Talking With Your Parents About Estate Planning

Talking to your family—whether parents talking to children, or children talking to parents—is one of the most important things we can do to prepare ourselves for the future.

Financial, legal, and medical issues are going to come up for all of us. Knowing what mom or dad wants, and having those wishes spelled out in legal documents, not only relieves adult children of a huge burden, but also ensures that parents' financial and medical instructions are followed in the way they want.

• Naming a Power Of Attorney and Health Care Proxy is the first step that parents should take.
• Creating a Will is essential as well, especially if parents have complex assets or young children, and organizing passwords and important documents.
• Actually sharing the location of that information is the third essential to-do.

These are difficult conversations to have, and the logistics can feel overwhelming, but everyone will benefit in the end.

[via New York Times]