Caring.com's 2021 Wills and Estate Planning Survey found that younger adults (ages 18-34) are more motivated by COVID-19 to engage in estate planning than those 55 and older, and that the number of young adults with a Will has increased by 63% since 2020. That's a remarkable increase! Unfortunately, despite the alarming number of COVID-related deaths in adults 55 and older, only 28% of adults 55 and older were motivated by COVID-19 to have a Will.
The survey also found that nearly 60% of adults find estate planning to be very important, but less than 5% have actually consulted with an attorney to do so. The most common reasons that adults put off estate planning were (1) that they hadn't gotten around to it, (2) they felt they didn't have enough assets to leave anyone, (3) they felt estate planning can be too expensive, and (4) they didn't know how to get a Will. Interestingly enough, there was an 18% increase in adults earning $40-80,000 per year that did estate planning in 2021. Another survey, WealthCounsel's Estate Planning Awareness Survey, found that 74% of adults just find estate planning to be a confusing topic.
If you nodded along to any of these five reasons, you know that you're not alone. However, estate planning is important for all adults regardless of the size of their estate, the cost of estate planning is actually far less than people usually expect, and you've landed on a blog by an estate planning attorney so you now know where to get a Will. As for the fifth reason, I can't tell you how many clients tell me after they sign their documents "I can't believe I put that off for so long," "Wow, that was so much easier than I thought it was going to be," or my personal favorite from my younger clients, "I feel like such an adult now!" You can also check out my previous blog post where I explored the five steps of estate planning in an effort to simplify the estate planning process.
Take the first step - make your initial appointment.
Prepare for your initial appointment.
Meet with attorney to review your estate and create your estate plan.
Attorney prepares documents for signing appointment.
Meet with attorney for signing appointment and discuss any necessary follow-up. Remember to review your estate plan every 5-7 years or as major changes occur in your life.
By working with an estate attorney, estate planning should bring you peace of mind, not leave you scratching your head. We can work together to make sure you are on the right side of these statistics.
For more information or to read the complete survey, you can visit https://www.caring.com/caregivers/estate-planning/wills-survey.
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