“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” – St. Teresa of Calcutta.
If you are part of the sandwich generation—caring for children and your parents simultaneously—it is crucial to know whether your parents have an estate plan. While the final decisions rest with them, creating a comprehensive estate plan is absolutely necessary.
The thought of speaking with your parents about important and often sensitive topics like their finances and estate can be challenging and uncomfortable. Nonetheless, having this conversation is key to ensuring that your parents can live their golden years without financial worries and that their wishes are carried out efficiently after their deaths. Addressing these topics sooner rather than later benefits everyone involved and ensures greater peace of mind and preparedness. If the family is together for the holidays, this can be a great time to begin the conversation.
Consider discussing the following key areas:
- A Team Effort. Encourage your parents to compile a list of their advisors, including legal, financial, and health care professionals, with their contact information.
- Revocable Trust, Wills, and Financial Power of Attorney. Having a trust, wills, and financial power of attorney in place will ensure that your parents’ wishes for their property will be honored, and that you or appropriate individuals can help if they become incapacitated. If they do have these documents, confirm who the trustee, executor, and financial agent is. Find out where the original documents are stored. Confirm all real estate is titled in their trust.
- Medical Directives. Confirm whether they have advance health care directives. These documents allow someone to make medical decisions on their behalf if they are unable to do so or to communicate their wishes due to incapacity. Encourage them to have a conversation with your or their chosen agent to ensure the decision-maker understands their feelings and wishes about their medical preferences and end-of-life care.
- Insurance Policies. Know what insurance policies they have and where documentation is located, including health, life, homeowner’s, auto, disability, and long-term care policies.
- Financial, Investment, and Retirement Accounts. Encourage your parents to create a comprehensive list of checking, savings, brokerage, mutual fund, pension, and retirement accounts. This should include where each account is held, account numbers, and the names of any key contacts. Confirm all accounts have beneficiary designations if appropriate or are funded in their trust.
Why Estate Planning Matters
Failing to put together an estate plan often leads to chaos, excessive costs and taxes, unnecessary court involvement, inadequate incapacity planning, potential hurt feelings, delays in distributing inheritances, and even unexpected outcomes after death. Don’t allow fear and discomfort to keep you from having this important estate planning conversation with your parents.
Contact an experienced estate planning attorney to help you through this delicate situation. We are here to help! Call for a free consultation.
949.285.4270 / SusanHattanLaw.com / Susan@SusanHattanLaw.com
903 Calle Amanecer, Suite 230, San Clemente, CA 92673
