Why Single Individuals Should Consider Estate Planning
Hello, my name is Tulsa lawyer Jason Lile and I wanted to talk to you today about estate planning issues. One in particular that might be a little bit confusing is I do have a lot of married people who have children come to me and say, I need to plan for what’s next if I should die or become incapacitated. But you might ask yourself, if you’re a single person, do I need to consult an estate planning lawyer? Does it even matter?
It doesn’t matter in the same way, obviously, if you don’t have children that you are looking to take care of past your death or a spouse. But I would highly recommend that you come to see an estate planning attorney if you are single for two reasons.
Reasons for Single Individuals to Consider Estate Planning
Number one, I assume you have desires about your things. Maybe you do have relatives or friends you want to make sure have your personal effects or any wealth that you’ve acquired in your lifetime. Maybe you have a charity that you care about that you want those things to go to. So one reason that you should have a will or a trust is that you want your wishes to be effectuated when you die.
The second thing is that you have wishes with regard to your medical care. Those should also be memorialized in what we call a living will or a health care proxy. And if you don’t do that, once you are incapacitated, you are largely out of control as to what happens with that.
The next reason that you should have a living, revocable trust or a will as a single person is that you will not have often a person who will naturally assume they’re going to step into that role. When it comes to spouses or life partners, a lot of times those people are expecting to step into that role if their spouse or partner dies. But as a single person, you might have family, but there might be a lot of confusion as to who should do that, who you would have wanted to do that, and how you would have wanted it done.
Take Action Today
I really think it’s a compassionate thing to do for your family. It’s a good thing to do for you to do some estate planning so that when the time comes, you’re prepared. If you need more information or would like to speak with an Oklahoma estate planning attorney, contact us at oklahomawillandtrust.com.