Americans Are Not Planning
Americans still do not plan for their deaths. In a survey by lawyers.com (sm) over half (55 percent) of all adult Americans do not have a will. The reasons from the survey include:
• Ignorance is bliss: One in ten (10 percent) American adults
who do not have any elements of an estate plan say it’s
because they don’t want to think about dying or becoming
incapacitated.
• Where to begin?: Similarly, nearly one in ten (9 percent)
adults say they don’t have an estate plan in place because
they don’t know who to talk to about creating such
documents. This percentage nearly doubled from 2004
(5percent).
• But I don’t need a will: Nearly one in four (24 percent) of
adults say their biggest reason for not having an estate
plan is a lack of sufficient assets. This was also the top
reason cited in the 2004 survey (21 percent).
These three reasons are not very good ones. We are not immortal. We should plan for both our potential incapacity and death. You can go here to get free forms and information designed by the Arizona Attorney General to help you plan for your end of life healthcare.
If you do not know where to find an estate planning attorney, start with the Arizona State Bar. Choose a lawyer that focuses on estate planning so he or she can anticipate issues and knows the latest law and planning techniques. Find one you like.
You may think you have no reason to create a will. However, if you have minor children, you absolutely need a will to name guardians.
