The Psychology Behind Putting Off Doing Our Estate Plans

POSTED ON: January 28, 2019

As human beings, we plan for lots of things. We pack suitcases and make airline reservations for vacations; we choose a location, food, and formal attire in advance of our wedding; and we maintain a calendar for every day of our lives. But doing an estate plan, something that can protect ourselves and our families, is sometimes the one type of planning we put off.

Why is that?

“Thinking about my mortality scares me.”
This is completely understandable. Nobody wants to think about dying or being really sick. But the focus of estate planning is actually on taking care of the living. Making sure you’re being cared for properly while you’re here, even if you don’t have the capacity to do that for yourself. It’s also about ensuring that your family is taken care of no matter what happens. Estate planning shouldn’t be scary. It’s about putting a plan in place to protect yourself and your loved ones.

“I don’t know how to find an attorney I can trust.”
I know, there are a lot of attorney jokes. I find myself chuckling at some of them. But there are good attorneys who have your best interest at heart. I started my own firm because I found that the estate planning industry generally treats its clients as if they’re all generic people with the same needs and wants. The truth is that there’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution to estate planning. Each person has unique goals, and therefore unique plans are needed to achieve those goals. So, at The Heritage Law Center we take the time to get to know each client and then create plans tailored to protect them, their assets, and their families.

“Our estate is too small to need an estate plan.”
Even if you have moderate wealth, you want to make sure that your family will easily have access to it if needed, and you want to protect the assets you have from taxes and probate costs. You also want to leave guidance for your family in regard to your estate in order to avoid family arguments, which could cause strained relationships for years to come.

“I’m just so busy, I never seem to have the time.”
This can be interpreted as the ancient technique of procrastination. Our lives are very busy, but we have to make the time to do the important things. Sure, there’s not technically a deadline for this task, but it needs to be done while your able to do it, so the plan is in place when you need it.

You want to make sure that if anything happens to you, you and your family would be taken care of in the best way possible. Take that first step. Contact me at mkarr@maheritagelawcenter.com or 617.299.6976 today to set up your free initial consultation. We’ll make the process as easy as possible for you by explaining your options in an easy-to-understand way and giving you the guidance to create the best estate plan for your situation.