Many people have questions about estate planning and what they should tell their kids. Parents face decisions about how much to tell them, when to tell them, and how to handle the sensitive issue. The answers to these estate planning questions about a child’s knowledge and involvement is not one size fits all. Most parents feel a little uneasy talking about plans for their death with their kids, and there’s never really a good time to bring it up. Some parents to opt to leave their children in the dark about their plans while others are totally transparent about estate planning — but most parents are in the middle somewhere. Here’s some important things to consider when deciding what to tell your kids about your end-of-life plans.

Let Your Kids Know Where to Look

When it comes to planning for your estate, someone needs to know where your important documents are concerning estate planning. At the very basic level, you could just tell your kids that you do actually have an estate plan and where they can find the information on it should they need to. This doesn’t have to be an intense discussion about plans should you die, just let them know about it as well as where to find documents for your retirement accounts, Phoenix or out of state property, vehicles, etc.

How to Follow Procedure

An important part of telling your kids about your estate planning is letting them know how to go about accessing the details of your plans. You should let your child know who you have named as an executor of your estate. Also, tell them where to find information about the family attorney, and maybe even arrange a meeting with them beforehand.

Let Them Know Who is In Charge

It’s a pretty idea to let your children know about your plan should you become incapacitated in some way — as uncomfortable as this may seem. This is especially important if you have some kind of special circumstances.

Full Disclosure, Or Not

Most estate planning involves leaving assets to the children, but that’s not a requirement — you can do what you please with your own assets. If you do plan on leaving all of your assets to an organization, research program, or charity, you don’t really need to tell your kids, especially if you don’t think they will understand your logic or motive behind these decisions.

Your Kids Can Handle Estate Planning Issues

Keep in mind that they older your children are, the more they will understand about estate planning. There’s a lot that they need to know, especially if they are beneficiaries, and you’d be surprised at how well they handle these discussions.

Need Help?

If you are not sure as to what legal document you currently have contact one of our professionals to help you with your estate planning. They will make sure you have all of your grounds covered and have the right legal documents that best suite your wants and needs.

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