Do I need an estate plan if I am single and have no kids?
When people think of estate plans, they often think about the traditional family situation: a married couple concerned about protecting their children’s inheritance. This leads to the following question: do you need an estate plan if you are single and have no kids? The short answer is yes.
Here is the longer answer:
From a legal perspective, it is equally (if not more) important for a single person without children to have an estate plan, because in such scenario there is a high likelihood of needing legal instruction in place to prevent mistakes and avoid court involvement. In other words, there are three primary and overlapping reasons why a single person without kids needs an estate plan just as much as any other person:
You want to be in charge of setting up your own future support system
You want to make your wishes known
You do NOT want to rely upon the State to make those decisions for you
Let’s dive a bit deeper.
It’s a way of setting up your own future support system…
An estate plan consists of not just planning for after your death, but also for while you are living.
Who do you want to make medical decisions for you if you become incapacitated? What are your preferences on life sustaining treatment? Where would you like to live in such a scenario? Would you prefer to stay at home or go to a facility or a continuing care retirement community? If you want to be moved to a different residence, then who do you think is the best person to make sure your wishes are followed?
And then there is the other side of the equation, which is - who do you want to make financial decisions for you if you are unable to make them yourself or simply need help managing things as you get older? Which personal financial tasks are you comfortable delegating? Which ones do you want to remain in control of as long as possible?
As you can imagine, if you fail to put legal documents in place (like your health care proxy and durable power of attorney), then the State may have to do it for you through guardian or conservatorship proceedings.
Put differently - Do you want the government to decide who is going to make your health care decisions or manage your finances for you without getting your input?
That’s part of what your estate plan is for.
It makes your wishes known…
Without a will or trust in place, the state laws and court will dictate who gets to inherit your property and who is in charge of distributing the estate. While such intestacy laws are well-intentioned, it’s unlikely that they will follow your specific intentions because such laws are based on blood relation only and have a specific pre-arranged pecking order. So if you are a member of organizations, involved in nonprofits, or have friends that you’d prefer to leave or donate your property to, then you need to have the right documents in place to ensure that your wishes are followed instead of the generic state law.
In the event that you do want to leave certain items or property to your family, an estate plan allows you to specify which persons will receive such property (and which ones won’t). Just as important, by creating an estate plan, you can provide legal authority and instructions to make sure the process is streamlined and avoid unnecessary court involvement, legal fees, or publicity.
Since it’s impossible for the court to understand your subjective preferences without instruction, failing to create an estate plan - regardless of your marital status or whether you have children - puts you in an unnecessarily risky situation.
Fortunately, you can avoid virtually all of the risk by creating a simple estate plan.
If you are interested in learning more about setting up your own estate plan, then give me a call at 781 202 6368 or email me at jlento@perennialtrust.com to set up your free personal consultation.
I’m always happy to answer your questions.
Sincerely,
Joseph M. Lento, J.D.
Your local estate planning attorney
Perennial Estate Planning
477 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180
