By Herzog Law Firm
Nobody wakes up excited to plan their estate. It tends to sit on the to-do list for years, somewhere below ‘clean the garage’… until something forces the issue. So the question we hear most often is a fair one: when should you actually start?
Herzog Law Firm’s managing principal, David Kubikian, Esq. answers it in the video above. His point is simple, if a little uncomfortable: you already have a plan. If you never write one down, New York has rules that decide who gets your money and how. The only way to swap the state’s version for your own is to put it in writing.
As for timing, estate planning isn’t just for the gray-haired or the wealthy. The honest answer changes as your life does, and it’s also surprisingly simple: you should start planning earlier than you think.
At 18, your parents lose the legal right to make decisions for you, so even a college student is better off with a power of attorney and a health care proxy.Once you have a spouse or kids, a will really starts to matter. You need one so that you, and not a judge, decide who raises your children and how they inherit.Later in life, the focus shifts to protecting what you’ve saved and staying in your own home instead of a facility, if at all possible.
None of this has to be scary—that’s what we’re here for. It’s your money and your family; you get to say how it goes.
If estate planning has been nagging at you, that’s usually the sign that you need to start. Learn more about our estate planning services or book a free consultation and we’ll walk through it with you.
