You may assume outright that the decisions you make within your estate plan are your business alone. However, they also heavily concern your family members and other loved ones. After all, you likely assign some of them to inherit your beloved assets, while you gave others the responsibility to manage and distribute them properly (i.e., executors and trustees). All of this to say, it is beneficial to be open and transparent about your estate plan’s intentions while you are still alive. Without further ado, please continue reading to learn some helpful tips for discussing your estate plan with your family members and how an experienced estate planning attorney in Putnam County, at the Law Office of Andres D. Gil, PLLC, can help get the ball rolling, so to speak.

What are tips for discussing my estate plan with my family members?

To reiterate your estate plan is as much about you as it is about your family members. With that in mind, it may best serve you to converse about it in the following ways:

  • Schedule formal, sit-down conversations with your family members, covering one topic of your estate plan during each one.
  • Encourage your family members to come to you with questions, concerns, or special requests with how your estate’s assets will be handled.
  • Sit down separately with the family members you wish to take on larger roles (i.e., executors and trustees) and ask for their explicit willingess to take them on.
  • Create a master document of all your account numbers, usernames, password, etc. with someone (i.e., your accountant) who your family members can easily reach to access them.
  • Keep all your original estate planning documents in the safekeeping of one trusted individual (i.e., your attorney) who your family members can easily reach to access them.

What happens if I wait too long to have this conversation?

Understandably, your fatality may not be something you like to ponder too much. With that, you may delay having the uncomfortable conversation of your estate plan with your family members for as long as possible. However, we encourage you to not wait too long.

If you do, you may unfortunately reach a point where your family members no longer find you mentally sound. So, they may question whether your estate plan matches your true intentions and possibly even dispute it with the New York State Surrogate’s Court after your unfortunate passing.

Otherwise, you may not be able to have these conversation at all. This may leave some of your family members completely blindsided with what you decided to do with your estate’s assets and the overall plan. Again, they may contest its validity with the court, and create unneccesary strains in their relationships with one another.

In conclusion, if you need legal assistance urgently, please do not miss another opportunity to schedule an initial consultation with a skilled estate planning attorney in Putnam County, from the Law Office of Andres D. Gil, PLLC. Contact our firm today.