You might not want to talk to your children about your estate plan, and they might not want to hear you talk about your inevitable death. Yet, discussing your estate plan is a wise idea.
As a freak accident could take you from them tomorrow, it’s best to have the chat as soon as possible rather than put it off until you reach old age. Here are some tips:
Give them the essential information
You don’t necessarily need to go into detail about the contents of your estate. You do need to tell them where to begin when you die. Give them details of a legal representative to contact and where to find your will and other essential documents.
Explain any complex decisions
If you are leaving half of everything to each of your children, telling them that is not so important. If you are giving almost everything to one child, then explaining why is. Otherwise, you risk the other child believing their sibling persuaded you to give them more.
Consider discussing your plan before you’ve made it
You cannot know everything that goes on in your children’s heads or lives. Telling them what you intend to leave them before you document it allows them to make any special requests. It’s their chance to say they’d never wear the ruby ring you’ve earmarked for them, but have always loved the emerald one. Or to tell you they fear a messy divorce is on the cards, so prefer anything you leave to be in a trust in their children’s name.
There’s a lot to consider before talking to your children about your estate plan. It may be wise to consider legal help so that you can learn more about your options.