Estate planning can be a tricky subject, particularly when your loved ones struggle to confront the prospect of their own mortality. This conversation does not have to be difficult when you know how to approach it the right way. One of the easiest ways to open this conversation with your loved ones or parents is simply by asking have you done any estate planning?
This will help clarify your relatives’ perspectives on estate planning and help show you whether or not they have already engaged in any of these early steps. Another way to broach this topic is by saying, “Are there any estate planning decisions or choices you’ve made that I should know about?”
This can help to avoid the difficulty of bringing up things about who will receive what or any financial issues that can be awkward for family members to talk about.
Thinking about estate planning as something that considers both what happens while you’re alive as well as what happens after you pass away can help your loved ones see this as a lifelong plan to create and adapt.
The support of an experienced estate planning lawyer can make it easier for you to ask the important questions about your own plan and to draft documents like a power of attorney, a living will, a trust and more. This way you are set up well to have a conversation with your own loved ones and other impacted stakeholders about how this influences their future.
A New York estate planning attorney can help you figure out what you need to consider when crafting your conversation and plan.