July 24, 2019

Americans are notoriously conflicted when it comes to end of life estate planning. Thinking about the future of those we leave behind and confronting our own mortality is difficult, and yet it’s also a key aspect of your financial management necessary for the long term security of your loved ones.

This is why it might come as no surprise to you that only one out of every 10 people living in the United States currently even has an estate plan. The problem with this is that many Americans do recognize that having an estate plan or at least the most document, a will, is important.

A 2019 survey conducted by Caring.com found that 57% of US adults don’t have a living trust or a will in their estate planning. Furthermore, one age category in particular garnered top results for skipping out on these key estate planning documents. Only one out of every five 18-34 year olds indicated that they had an estate plan in place.

Over 1,000 adults participated in the study and 76% of them felt that having a will was important, but so few of them have actually taken the next step to do it. The four most common reasons why Americans don’t have a will, according to the study, include:

• They just haven’t gotten around to it.
• They don’t believe they have enough assets to leave behind to anyone.
• They don’t know how to do it.
• They perceive that it’s too expensive.

Sitting down with an estate planning lawyer can help to remove some of the confusion and misperception of putting together a will.