As Thanksgiving approaches, we all (hopefully) stop for a moment to ask what we are thankful for this year.  In a world of a million distractions, I find that the top of the list usually involves our loved ones. Whether it’s our spouse, our children and grandchildren, extended family or just special people in our lives, it is these people that all of us are thankful to be blessed with in our lives.  But should we do more than just be thankful?

When we do estate planning for our lives and assets, we are creating a very tangible way to say “thank you” to those for whom we are thankful.  We do so not only by providing our valuable assets when we are gone (which is indeed important), but done properly we add many layers to our expression of thanks. For examples, a good estate plan creates ways of:

• Protecting our estate if someday we can no longer manage our affairs
• Organizing our estate instead of chaos and missing information
• Making gifts according to our wishes, not some default bureaucracy
• Delaying and minimizing tax burdens for our beneficiaries
• Protecting beneficiaries from loss if they get divorced or sued
• Saving assets from exhaustion if a nursing home stay is required (very common today)
• Protecting young beneficiaries from stupid financial mistakes they’ll always regret
• Avoiding family disputes and in-fighting
• Creating clarity instead of confusion
• Providing a roadmap for when you aren’t there to help any longer
• Selecting financial mentors if needed for younger or inexperienced loved ones

Imagine how much more impactful our “Thank You” to our loved ones becomes when we provide all of these real life, tangible and valuable features to our own estate planning. Now we have not just said we are thankful, but further we have demonstrated the level of our gratitude and provided a deeply meaningful way to show our appreciation.

How do you get all of this performance from an estate plan? You start with selecting the right estate planning attorneys to guide your journey. We are pleased to offer a complimentary one-hour consultation to explore your estate planning questions and concerns, discuss some topics you might have never considered, review appropriate strategies for estate planning for your specific situation, and discover the time and costs involved. 

Sure, most people like what they hear and decide to move ahead with planning, but even if you decide you don’t want to implement the solutions we suggest, I guarantee that you will still know more than you did at the beginning of the meeting. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

Why now? Why not. You know it’s been in your mind. The stress of not attending to the important things in life is itself prematurely aging.  Remember that you aren’t planning for today, because you don’t need an estate plan today. But tomorrow, or next year, who knows? It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark, but his family was surely glad that he did.

Finally, I encourage you to consider the Thanksgiving period as a time to do something for which you will be thankful to yourself. When you do something that your future self will thank you for, you effectively invest in your own future wellbeing. This year, thank your loves ones and thank yourself by getting your own estate plan discussion rolling.  We’ll do our part, and even provide the consultation for free. All you need to do is call to schedule a convenient appointment with one of our estate planning attorneys.

Please call us anytime at (412) 253-7526, and let us help you create an estate plan that will make everyone thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is a conversational summary of a complex area of law and should not be construed to constitute legal advice. No person should rely upon the content of this article for making any decisions, and should instead consult with appropriate legal and tax professionals.