You may have seen several guides encouraging young people to have an estate plan, showing the importance of creating one earlier. But what if you didn’t do so when you were younger? Is it too late to start?
While it’s crucial and more manageable to draft estate planning documents earlier, it’s never too late. You can begin planning at any age. However, you need a few tips to help you. Here are three:
Be prepared for a complex procedure
When you are older, the chances are you have many assets and possibly children and grandchildren. Therefore, you should be ready for a more complex procedure. The process you will follow is no different from someone who planned earlier in life, but they started with a simple plan and updated it with time. With yours, you will handle almost everything at once. This is why it may seem more difficult.
You may need help from specialists
Financial advisors, tax specialists, appraisers and others may need to be used during estate planning. That can help you better organize your estate to accomplish the goals that you have for your heirs and your legacy.
You may need to consider incapacity
Incapacity can occur at any age due to accidents or illnesses, but age is also a factor. Thus, if you start estate planning later in life, you may need to consider sensitive factors like mental capacity. If you are healthy and have testamentary capacity, you can plan your estate. It will help to complete a mental capacity assessment conducted by a psychologist or a psychiatrist to eliminate the chances of your will being contested on those grounds.
With experienced legal guidance, your estate plan can protect your loved ones – and you’re never “too old” to get this done.
