Stop Waiting: Why Estate Planning Can't Be Put Off

The Plan You Don't Have Is Already Making Decisions for You

Most people who haven't done their estate planning aren't against it. They're just busy. The kids, the job, the house in Beverly or Hamilton that needs a new roof. Estate planning sits on the list right below "call the dentist" and right above "clean out the garage."

Here's the problem. While you're waiting, Massachusetts law is already making decisions about your estate. If something happens to you without a will or trust in place, those decisions will be made by a probate judge in Salem, not by you.

What "No Plan" Actually Looks Like in Practice

Let me give you a real example. David is 52. He owns a home in Gloucester, has two kids from a first marriage, and has been living with his partner Sarah for six years. They're not married. David keeps meaning to update his old will from 2009, but he hasn't gotten around to it.

David dies unexpectedly. Under Massachusetts law (MGL Chapter 190B, the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code), Sarah gets nothing from his estate automatically. She has no legal standing as a partner. His house, his savings, his personal property: all of it flows through a probate process that could take a year or more, and Sarah may be left scrambling to pay rent on a home she shared with David for half a decade. Assuming she gets the house at all.

The Cost of Waiting Isn't Just Financial

People think of estate planning as a financial exercise. And yes, it protects assets. But the bigger cost of waiting is what it does to your family when they're already grieving.

When there's no plan, families fight. When there's no health care proxy (the document that names someone to make medical decisions for you if you can't), your adult children may disagree about what you would have wanted. When there's no durable power of attorney, no one can pay your bills or manage your accounts if you become incapacitated, even temporarily.

Mark and Lisa are siblings. Their mother, Mary, had a stroke in her seventies. No power of attorney existed. Mark and Lisa had to petition the Essex County Probate Court to establish a guardianship and conservatorship just to manage their mother's finances and care. The process took months, cost thousands of dollars in legal fees, and nearly destroyed their relationship.

A durable power of attorney, done in advance, would have cost a fraction of that and taken a single afternoon.

"I'll Do It When Things Settle Down" Is a Trap

There's a particular kind of procrastination that feels responsible. You tell yourself you'll do your estate planning when you buy the house, after the baby arrives, once the business is more stable. The transitions keep coming, and the plan keeps getting pushed.

Your life will never be perfectly settled. That's not pessimism. That's just true. The right time to plan is when you're healthy, clear-headed, and not under pressure. That's also, not coincidentally, right now.

Here's What a Basic Estate Plan Actually Involves

A solid Massachusetts estate plan for most families covers five things:

• A will, which names who gets what and, if you have minor children, who raises them
• A revocable trust, a legal structure that holds your assets and lets your family skip probate court entirely
• A durable power of attorney, naming someone to handle finances if you're incapacitated
• A health care proxy, naming someone to make medical decisions for you
• A MOLST or advance directive, expressing your wishes around end-of-life care

For most people, putting this together takes two or three meetings and a few weeks. It does not require a crisis. It requires a phone call.

The Families Who Are Glad They Did It Early

I've worked with families all across the North Shore, in Salem, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Ipswich, Wenham, and beyond. The ones who had plans in place when something unexpected happened were not less sad. Grief doesn't work that way. But they were less panicked. They knew what to do. Their loved one had told them, in writing, with legal force behind it.

That gift is worth more than most people realize until they're in the middle of a crisis without it.

Start now. Not because something bad is coming. Because you love your family, and love is a plan.