If you ask the average person what estate planning is and who needs it, you’ll likely hear answers that involve elderly people. While it’s true that your need for an estate plan grows the older you become, the reality is that estate plans address choices that all capable adults can, and should, make. Elderly people aside, there are specific groups of people who need to create an estate plan as soon as possible.
Single People
If you are a young person living on your own, you definitely need an estate plan. While it may be unlikely that you will suffer a catastrophic injury or illness that will render you unable to voice your decisions, you need an estate plan because you don’t have anyone else to fall back on. This is especially true if you live alone and are far away from close family members. If something should happen to you, your doctors and health-care providers may not be able to find someone to make crucial decisions for you.
New Parents
Couples with young children face a number of challenges, each of which is reason enough to create an estate plan. If something should happen to you, who would take care of your child and deal with the issues you have to face on a daily basis? If you haven’t created powers of attorney or a will in which you name the guardian, you leave it up to a court to decide who will best care for your child.
Michael Robinson, Estate Planning Attorney
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