Having practiced as an Idaho estate planning attorney for nearly 18 years, I’ve come to learn that everyone should consider completing their Idaho estate planning. This would include the demographic group of individuals known as Millennials. Millennials are defined to be persons born in the mid 1980s through the year 2000. Today they would be between the ages of 18 to about 30. Basically, this is a group of young adults.
Most Millennials I have spoken to have never really considered getting their estate planning done. The reason for this is fairly easy to determine. This group of individuals are fairly young, and because of that they believe that there is plenty of time to worry about getting their Idaho estate planning done later in life, when they were more likely to need it. There really are 3 main reasons why Millennials should consider completing their Idaho estate planning.
1. CHILDREN
The first and perhaps most important reason that Idaho Millennials should consider completing their Idaho estate planning is because of their children. Millennials in the age categories described above are becoming parents now. Any time a person is responsible for a minor child they should consider getting their Idaho estate planning done so that they can have a plan in place to take care of that child. Idaho estate planning is all about looking down the road of the future and seeing as many of the bad possibilities that could occur and making a plan on how to deal with them if they do occur. The death of a young parent is a major tragedy. However, the greater tragedy is if there is no plan in place for that person’s minor children.
It is a simple thing to create a last will and testament and name a guardian for minor children. Doing this can eliminate arguments that may arise and conflicts that could occur between family members who are well-meaning but who have differences of opinion as to who should take care of minor children If the parents are deceased. To avoid these conflicts and problems, and Idaho Millennial can list a guardian in their last will and testament and by doing this remove the possibilities of conflict.
2. POWERS OF ATTORNEY
The second most important reason for a millennial to complete their Idaho estate planning is so that they can plan for their own disability. Again, we are looking down the road of the future and are seeing that it is possible for even young people to become disabled through injury or illness and lose the ability to take care of themselves and their property and finances. Powers of Attorney allow you to name individuals that you trust who can do these things for you.
If a person fails to obtain a power of attorney and a tragedy strikes leaving them disabled and unable to care for themselves, Idaho law requires a formal guardianship proceeding in court before for another individual can be named as the legal guardian. This is required so that another individual can take care of finances, property, dealing with creditors, and handling all other basic life events and affairs a person normally takes care of themselves.
Every person, even young Millennials, should plan for their own disability. Doing so through their Idaho State planning is far quicker, and far less expensive comment then having to complete a guardianship proceeding in court. Further, a guardianship proceeding leaves the door open for family members to disagree and again come into conflict with one another about who should actually be named as the legal guardian. This can lead to family fights, and too costly litigation.
3. PROPERTY
The third and final reason for an Idaho Millennial to complete their Idaho estate planning is so that they can have a plan in place to distribute their property to others upon their death. While this is not nearly as important as planning for minor children or planning for their own disability, it is still never the less important to complete. Again the reason for this is to avoid family fights and conflicts that could arise about who should take care of your property and who should ultimately receive your property.
If you are a millennial living in Idaho and you have questions about your own Idaho estate planning, we can help. Call us toll free at 877-232-6101 or 208-232-6101 for a consultation with Lane Erickson and the Racine Olson team of Estate Planning attorneys in Idaho. You can also email Lane Erickson directly at lve@racinelaw.net. We will answer your Idaho Estate Planning questions and will help you solve your Idaho Estate Planning problems.