Issue 51.16
Christmas is almost here. Many people started Christmas shopping a month ago. Unfortunately, I usually struggle up to the final days to know what to get my family.
In many ways, gifts have become more complicated and yet often less meaningful.
There is no doubt that the world we live in is complex. I often wish for a simpler life.
In our community many people are retired. Our “seniors” have worked hard to accumulate sufficient assets to live a comfortable retired life. I have met many kind-hearted, wonderful people – people who are often helping their children with finances, babysitting, chores, everything they can.
But, like me, and like many of us, they wonder, every year, what to get their families for Christmas.
This year can be different. Most people wait until their retirement years to formulate an estate plan. Many young families don’t even think about estate planning. They assume that life is long.
I see many young people that do not think they have sufficient assets to worry about planning their affairs. Many fail to consider their life insurance policies as part of their estate.
More importantly, they fail to recognize that their most valuable “asset” is not found in their financial statement or life insurance policies but rather under the covers each night of the children’s beds and bunkbeds.
A significant number of parents and grandparents have been forced to bear the financial and emotional burden of sorting out the mess that ensues when their child with a young family dies without an estate plan.
Even a standard will would have set forth who the minor children will live with throughout their lives and who will make the decisions in the face of illness or incapacity.
The emotional stress can be more than a parent or grandparent should have to deal with, while at the same time dealing with grief and loss. To prevent this from happening you could give your adult child(ren) the gift of purchasing an estate plan for them.
For peace of mind, for the benefit of families and young children, for the good that can be accomplished to protect young children, nothing beats the meaningful and important gift of helping your posterity to set their affairs in order. It may well be called “the gift that keeps on giving.”
Jeffery J. McKenna is a local attorney serving clients in Utah, Arizona and Nevada. He is a shareholder at the law firm of Barney, McKenna, and Olmstead with offices in St. George and Mesquite and founder as well as past president of the Southern Utah Estate Planning Council. If you have questions you would like addressed in these articles, you can contact him at 435 628-1711 or jmckenna@barney-mckenna.com.