What Age Should You Start Making An Estate Plan?


You may be wondering when you can start preparing your estate plan. The answer is that if you’ve just thought about it and you’ve already reached 18, then you’re eligible to start the process. While most people associate estate planning with getting old or having a complicated health state, it’s always important to remind yourself that it’s almost impossible for you to know when you need it ready.
 
An estate plan can help make sure your family, medical, and financial issues are all taken care of the way you want them to be if something should happen to you. You may need to consult with a law firm that can best help you set up an estate plan. If you’re in or around Florida and you’re looking for help with your estate planning, consider doing research on and visiting pages like https://montague.law/ to see if they can best handle your estate planning issues or needs.

If you’re much concerned about your age and wondering when is the right time you can set up your estate plan, then this article is for you. Read the points below to determine when to start your estate planning.

Why Create An Estate Plan?

Have you ever thought about what could happen to your savings, wealth, and property when you pass away? It’s not like you should spend most of your time worried about death or medical conditions, but you have to stay in touch with reality.
 
As soon as you turn 18, it means that you’re now an adult citizen and responsible for your decisions as well. Therefore, it’s good to consider setting up your estate plan as soon as you reach this age.
 
An estate plan can help make it easier for your family and loved ones to honor your wishes in case you die or get severely ill, when you can’t be in a position to make decisions. It may be one of the best decisions you make for yourself and those you care about.

When Is An Estate Plan Necessary?

As stated earlier, you can set up an estate plan as soon as you turn 18. Below are some events that may signal you to set up an estate plan:

When You Have A Savings Account

If you’ve got a savings account, it means that you should start considering where your savings should go in the event of your death. You can either choose to transfer the account to your family, friend, loved one, or a certain charity cause of your choice.

If You Own A Property

If you’ve got a property in your name, then you should also think of estate planning. If you already have one in place, it means that if you purchase another property, you should also update your estate plan.

If You’ve Inherited An Asset

If you’ve recently inherited some assets from your family, you might also have to consider updating your estate plan if there’s already an existing one. This is to make sure that your estate plan is up to date should anything happen to you.

If You’ve Just Married Or Divorced

If you get married, you may need to consider combining assets with your spouse. Sit down with your spouse and discuss what’ll happen to your assets if something happens to both of you.
 
You can also consider updating your estate plan if you just got divorced. When you update your estate plan in this situation, you make sure that your current one suits your will.

When Births Or Deaths Occur In The Family

Another scenario where you may have to review your estate plan is when a recent birth or death occurs within the family. If there’s a newborn in the family and you want that person to partly inherit your assets, then you could add them to the list. Or if a family member who was part of your estate plan died, consider removing them from the list to keep the estate plan up to date.

You can make the above alterations when you’re above 18—the time for you to start taking responsibility for your assets.

Conclusion

Setting up an estate plan is one of the most important and proactive decisions you can make in your lifetime. This is because an estate plan helps not only you but also your loved ones in case something happens to you. Overall, staying prepared for life emergencies is vital. Hopefully, this article has provided you with valuable information on when you can start with your estate planning.

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Posted - 11/25/2022