Thinking about your own mortality is tough. Nobody likes to think about the unknown, and the uncertainty can leave them stressed. This is true for your parents, too. But they may find a sense of relief by taking control over some of the things that seem uncontrollable, such as engaging in sound estate planning.
If you feel like your parents are procrastinating, then we know the concerns that you have are very real. So, this week on the blog, let’s take a look at some ways that you can engage your parents in an estate planning conversation.
- Be transparent: Your first step should be to inform other family members of your intention. You don’t want to give the appearance that you’re trying to coerce your parents to act in a certain way.
- Find an in: Initially broaching the topic of estate planning is challenging. Think of personal or news stories that you’ve heard where a lack of estate planning became an issue and bring that up with your parents as a starting point, easing into your concerns about their lack of estate plan.
- Be empathetic: Recognize that this is a difficult conversation for you parents to have and be patient with them. Also, try to have this conversation when they’re still healthy so that it doesn’t look like you’re rushing to get to them before it’s too late.
- Focus on values: Steer the conversation toward things that are important to your parents. This can help them identify estate planning strategies that support those interests.
- Take notes: This will probably be an ongoing conversation, so make sure that you take notes to refer back to. This can also help your parents articulate what they want from their estate plan when they meet with an attorney to formalize everything.
Help is available for you and your parents
We find that a lot of people feel a sense of relief once they create an estate plan. That’s why we’re here to help people like you and your parents. So, if you have any questions about estate planning or what your next steps in the process should be, then please consider reaching out to someone who knows this area of the law and can adequately assist you.
