Studies have found that most Americans do not have a will or an estate plan. Roughly only one-third of people who responded to a survey claimed that they did have an estate plan in place, while the other two-thirds did not. So, if you have not written a will yet, you are in good company.
The study also asked people why they had not made an estate plan, and their answers shed some light on this decision, while also showing why these excuses do not always hold up.
They have not gotten around to it
The top reason is that people were procrastinating and just planning to make their estate plan at some hypothetical point in the future. The risk, naturally, is that someone could pass away unexpectedly. If they were waiting to write a will in their 60s or 70s, they may simply not have done it in time.
They are waiting to acquire more assets
Some people said they did not have an estate plan because they were not wealthy enough or did not have enough assets yet. There are two problems with this viewpoint, starting with the fact that even a small estate can still be passed on to beneficiaries. The second reason is that estate planning can also focus on medical decisions, so it is not necessarily just a question of assets at all.
Drafting your estate plan
You may know that it is important to write a will, but perhaps you have been putting it off, as so many Americans do. In order to make sure that your family has guidance when they need it, it is important to know what steps to take to create your estate plan this year.
