Procrastination Leads to Chaos: Tips for Creating an Estate Plan

Procrastination Leads to Chaos: Tips for Creating an Estate Plan

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

July 22, 2024

According to the 2024 Caring.com Wills Survey, 64 % of Americans state having a will is important, yet only 32% have one.  The study also reports that of those surveyed, 43% of respondents would wait until receiving a major medical diagnosis or having a serious health event to create an estate plan. After nearly 20 years of practicing estate planning and probate, I can say with confidence that waiting until you are really, really sick to create a plan is setting yourself up for a very difficult task -- likely increasing your chance of never actually completing a plan.  For example, any of the following may make it difficult if not impossible to create a plan for what happens at death:

• Your schedule is overtaken by medical appointments, tests and procedures leaving little time to dive into estate planning;
• Medications given for your treatment impair your ability to think clearly and make an informed decision;
• Medical bills dominate your budget, leaving little or no extra money to pay for estate planning;
• Your mobility is limited and you cannot easily travel to an attorneys office; and
• The risk of you being declared incapacitated removes your ability to create a plan.

I procrastinate in areas of my life as well -- my backyard is yet again a jungle of weeds.  I keep saying, tomorrow I'll go out and tame the chaos.  So far that tomorrow has not arrived.  My family jokes that the wildlife here in Madison, Wisconsin are content with the lack of attention I've given to the yard.  

The Toad of Whitney Way -- this guy (or gal) resides in my side yard, beneath the ferns and peonies that once stood in my late mother's yard.  Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi, July 2024.

With each passing day the chaos intensifies and I've reached the point of saying, "oh well, perhaps in the Fall I can cut it all back....or in the Spring, when life is calmer I will take care of the yard."  As I type this I know that unless I take action now, the yard will remain an unruly mess.  I offer you the following suggestions if you mean to create an estate plan, but have not yet done so:

1. Break the work into smaller tasks, making it possible to get some traction.  For example, start with filling out a form to help you organize your thoughts on who should do what if you are too sick to act or if you die.  Also, you could review your beneficiary forms to make sure they say what you think they say;
2. Outsource the work if your budget allows.  Consider hiring an attorney to give you the full-service attention you need.  For example, you meet with the attorney and tell them your goals and wishes, then the attorney drafts all the paperwork for you to sign.  It is likely far easier than you attempting to make sense of legal jargon and fill-in-the-blank forms;
3. Accept that perfection is not obtainable, and embrace the concept of "good enough".  Having some paperwork in place is a start.  Putting your thoughts for what you want that this moment is time is better than stalling as you try to sort out what happens in a dozen hypothetical situations down the road; and
4. Remind yourself that estate planning is about taking control.  There is very little we can control in this world, yet many of us crave control.  Embrace this as an area where you can make decisions and then put them in a legally binding format.  

A blog is not meant to be legal advice.  Rather it is a platform to spark thought and reflection.  It is best to consult with an attorney in your home state for advice specific to your situation.  Thank you for reading, and be well.  Click the box in the upper right hand corner to enter your email advice to receive notices for future posts.

Book Review: Our Last Best Act: Planning for the End of Our Lives to Protect the People and Places We Love by Mallory McDuff

Book Review: Our Last Best Act: Planning for the End of Our Lives to Protect the People and Places We Love by Mallory McDuff

by Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

July 12, 2024

Based on the recommendation of a longtime friend, I recently read Mallory McDuff's 2021 book, Our Last Best Act: Planning for the End of Our Lives to Protect the People and Places We Love.  Unlike many other green burial style books I have read, this one is more memoir than resource guide.  McDuff, an environmental educator at Warren Wilson College outside of Ashville, North Carolina spends a year exploring cost-effective and environmentally friendly burial options.  She states that many of her friends assume that flame cremation is greener than a conventional burial.  While that may be true, she sought alternatives that use smaller amounts of fossil fuels and include the family in after-death care.  Chapters explore options such as burials using shrouds and pine boxes to water-based cremation (known as aquamation) to body donation and human composting.  Beyond just a memoir, the book introduces the readers to new options in the area of final disposition, and includes references to organizations that support further growth in this area.  If you are interested in protecting the earth and or a frugal burial, this book would be worth the read.

I am always looking for new reading material related to estate planning and probate.  Whether it is non-fiction, a graphic novel, poetry, self-improvement, or classic fiction, please share any titles you might recommend.  Be well, and thank you for reading.

Independence, the Young Adult and Estate Planning

Independence, the Young Adult and Estate Planning

by Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

July 5, 2024

Goose Family (2 parents, 2 kids) on Lake Superior. Image Credit, Charles J. Gervasi, July 2024

Independence, it's on my mind this week as we celebrate America's freedom from the English crown.  It's also on my mind having spent a few days exploring Minnesota with my family.  It is a lovely area to spend long summer days; and the Twin Cities a viable college option for one if not both of my high school aged children.  The transition to adulthood is coming on fast, I can feel it.  With high school graduation and the magic age of 18, my children will have so many more freedoms.  And as a parent, I will loose the control that has been a part of the parenting process.

At the age of majority, which is normally 18, a child becomes an adult.  Decisions related to health care and finances become theirs and theirs alone.  In my home state of Wisconsin that means, as a parent, I no longer have automatic control to make decisions about their health care, their finances, or their school grades.  With the 18th birthday my children gain the ability to create their own Power of Attorney, one for finances and another for health matters.

A Power of Attorney is a legal document that says who can make decisions for you if you cannot.  It is the 18 year old who needs to choose to create these forms, and it is this young person who gets to select who to nominate for this power.  Commonly I receive calls at my office from parents who want to set up a Power of Attorney for a college bound student.  The reality that they cannot do this FOR their child can be a shock to the parenting system.  The responsibility is now that of the child, not the parent.  

For those newly minted legal adults, keep in mind the following estate planning forms you may want to create as you move into the next chapter of your life:

• Power of Attorney for Health Care -- who do you want to make your medical decisions if you cannot due to an accident or sudden illness; and
• Power of Attorney for Finances -- who do you want to manage your bank accounts, pay your bills, etc., if you are unable to do so because of sudden illness or injury.

The young are notorious for thinking "that will never happen to me".  Yet, it does.  Often as a complete shock.  The rock climbing fall that results in a traumatic brain injury.  The motorcycle or vehicle accident that lands you in the ICU.  A rare side effect to a prescription medication that leaves you incapacitated.  As an adult you have the ability to control who is allowed to make decisions if you cannot.  Completing these forms is a gift to your loved ones in the event the unthinkable happens, having a plan in place will ease their grief.

Now, enough with the gloomy talk.  Enjoy these summer nights. Look for fireflies.  Be well, and remember that a blog is not legal advice.  It is a platform to encourage thought and reflection.  Please consult an attorney in your home state for advice specific to your situation.