Signs It’s Time To Start Planning Your Estate

Estate planning is something that we tend to put off, thinking that we have endless amounts of time to do it. After all, no one likes thinking about death, and so it’s tempting to just ignore this important task until it’s nearly too late. Although you don’t typically need to start planning your estate when you are a young adult, there are some life events that signal it’s time to at least give it some thought.

You’ve gotten married.
Getting married is a huge step in anyone’s life, and it really changes the way you’ll approach your finances in the future. You no longer have to worry about just yourself – there’s someone else in the picture now too. To make sure that your assets are passed on to your spouse as necessary, you should start planning your own will. You may also want to work on joint estate planning for your shared assets.

You have kids.
If you’ve just had your first child, your life is about to change very drastically. You’ll need to start thinking about your future as a family, and you’ll want to make sure that even if something unexpected happens, your child will be cared for. The best way to do this is by making a will, living trust, or any other type of estate planning solution that fits your needs. Even if you aren’t sure exactly how you want to pass on your assets yet, it’s better to make a preliminary document now just in case, and then change it later on as needed. A will also allows you to name a guardian for your children in the event of your death – something that is very important.

You are starting to experience health complications.
Even if you are still relatively young, it’s important to start planning for the future as soon as you can. If you are diagnosed with a chronic condition that could lead to severe physical or mental deterioration in the future, it’s time to start planning your estate. It’s best to make sure that all of your documents are in order now when you are still healthy so that you and your family don’t have to worry about them later on.

You’ve started a business.
If you start your own business, it’s going to become a huge part of your life, and you’ll want to make sure that the business is managed appropriately even after you pass on. If you’ve started a successful business, it’s important to start planning your estate so that you can pass on ownership of the company to an appropriate person in the event of an emergency. You can also specify any other major requests that you have about how the business be run via estate planning documents.

You are thinking about making a very large purchase or investment.
Once you’ve earned enough money to start making major investments or purchases, it’s important to plan for the future and continue managing these assets wisely. By starting to plan your estate after you’ve made a major purchase, you can ensure that your new assets will be passed down through your family (or to any other desired beneficiaries) no matter what happens. If you don’t have a trust, will, or other estate planning document in place and something happens to you, your assets will be passed down through court procedures, which is not ideal for most people.

If you are starting to wonder if you should begin estate planning, then that’s probably a sign you should get started. There’s never any downside to being prepared for anything that could happen in the future.