Having an estate plan in place is not nearly as common as many people imagine. According to some reports, roughly 1/3 of Americans have made an estate plan, while the other 2/3 have not. This means that, on average, most Americans do not have a plan at all.
The specific reasons vary from case to case. Below are a few of the examples that people provide, demonstrating how they think about estate planning.
They have not gotten around to it
Many people indicate that estate planning is something they hope to do in the future. They just have not gotten around to it yet, or they are procrastinating. A lot of young people do not think they will need an estate plan until they are closer to retirement age, for example.
They do not have very many assets
One common misconception about estate planning is that you need to have a lot of assets or that only wealthy people make estate plans. To counter this misconception, it is important for people to think about how an estate plan can address future medical decisions or how it can distribute low-value family heirlooms.
They do not know how to do it
Finally, there are many people who will say that they know it is important to write a will, set up a trust or use advance directives like a medical power of attorney. The issue is simply that they do not know where to get the documents or where to start.
In all of these cases, but especially in the third case, it can be very helpful for those who do not have an estate plan to work closely with an experienced estate planning attorney so that they can explore all of their options.
