People frequently procrastinate when it comes to estate planning. They might tell themselves that they need to wait until they have hit certain career milestones, finish having children or address other challenges before drafting legal documents.
Unfortunately, many people wait too long to draft wills. A majority of adults in the United States currently do not have a will or any other testamentary instrument in place. If they die, their families may have a challenging process ahead.
How long can people wait before estate planning without endangering themselves or their families?
Life is unpredictable
Technically, adults have testamentary capacity, or the ability to draft a will, from the time they turn 18. They retain that capacity for the rest of their lives unless their health declines substantially. A retired adult in their ’80s could potentially draft a will after decades of procrastination.
However, estate planning later in life could lead to questions about an individual’s capacity or about whether caregivers may have exerted undue influence on them. Additionally, people never know when they might experience emergencies that lead to premature mortality or a loss of their testamentary capacity.
A brain injury from a car crash could leave someone incapable of drafting a will, for example. The possibility of medical emergencies or premature mortality makes waiting to draft a will a dangerous gamble.
The best approach to estate planning typically involves drafting documents as soon as possible, reviewing them regularly and making updates as necessary to ensure their legal authority. Working with an estate planning lawyer to create or update a will can give an adult peace of mind about their legacy and the protection of their loved ones accordingly.
