Why Millennials Should Consider Their Estate Plan Now

Are you like most people in their early to mid twenties who has never considered their estate plan? Moreover, are you like so many more who believe that estate planning is only something to be considered when you reach retirement age? If you are, then think again.

Contrary to what most people think, estate planning is not a legal process that should only be considered when you’ve retired from your job or when your health has started to fail. Estate plans cover everything from wills to trust and health care directives to Medicaid planning. Without many of these important legal documents, your estate could fall in the hands of the state courts who have a process all their own for distributing your assets and properties. In many cases, the court’s way of doing things is not at all how most people would like.

Because many Millennials regard estate planning as ‘something only old people do,’ they oftentimes don’t have important documents drafted or beneficiaries lined up in case the worst should happen. Things like sudden disability or death are not unheard of among young adults – conditions that can create incredibly difficult legal messes that can leave family members struggling to take control.

So whether you’re a Millennial who just graduated college or a young adult taking their first steps into parenthood, consider your estate plan now. Think of who you’d like to take over as your power of attorney if you should become incapacitated and where you’d like your belongings to go if the worst should happen. Because without an estate plan, your family is left to make these difficult choices, oftentimes with little direction on how you would have really liked things to have been taken care of.