It’s hard enough to come to your own conclusions about what you want your estate plan to look like, which means that you’ve probably put off having a conversation about it with your family members too. But talking about estate planning is important for your sake and for your heirs.
Some of the benefits of dialogue include being able to pass on family values, bringing your family a sense of empowerment and clarity, helping family members in the event that you or someone else within it is incapacitated, helping siblings, parents and children to develop a responsible plan, and enabling your family to take advantage of tax strategies.
A couple of tips can help you streamline your estate planning conversation. First of all, be sincere about your intentions and clarify that you are starting these talks out of concern over having proper plans in place.
Stress the importance of the conversation and the benefits of what comes out of it for everyone who is affected. And make sure that this conversation is held in an environment that is positive and comfortable for everyone. Never use an otherwise argumentative time to initiate this conversation. Set aside time to speak with a Maryland estate planning lawyer if you have questions about the estate planning process and want to discuss the strategies and tactics that you can use to accomplish your individual goals.