Estate
Talking to Aging Parents About Estate Planning
Beyond the practical purpose of transferring assets and reducing taxes, an estate plan reflects love, responsibility, and values.
July 10, 2026
Beyond the practical purpose of transferring assets and reducing taxes, an estate plan reflects love, responsibility, and values.
While your estate plan may describe in detail who will receive big-ticket items, your loved ones may argue over small nostalgic items that you unintentionally omitted. To prevent family strife and forestall bickering among your loved ones, you also need to think in a big-picture way about the little things in your estate.
After notifying loved ones of your impending surgery, your first call to a professional should be to your estate planning attorney. Time is of the essence, and your attorney can quickly triage the documents that provide the most immediate protection for you and your family.
Estate planning is a love language all of its own that can communicate care not only through gifts of money and property but also through the act of planning for what will eventually happen to us. It is a way of showing love to the people who depend on us by creating clarity and support so that they are not left guessing or scrambling when we are no longer here.
Whether you are approaching retirement or already in it, this stage calls for a fresh look at your estate plan and timely adjustments that match your next chapter.
A well-designed estate plan can help anticipate and mitigate these risks by providing structure, guidance, and protection around inherited wealth.
As the child who was not cut out of the estate plan, you may find yourself in an especially delicate spot, particularly if your parent named you as the executor (also called a personal representative) or trustee in their estate plan.
Among the numerous types of trusts aimed at fulfilling different estate planning purposes, an inheritor’s trust is specially designed to help protect an inheritance.
You have decided to meet with an estate planning attorney to get your affairs in order and ensure that your loved ones are protected. Now that you have scheduled the appointment, it is time to get yourself organized and prepare for the first meeting.
Comprehensive estate planning also addresses what will happen if you become mentally incapacitated (unable to manage your affairs) due to illness, injury, or cognitive decline, or if you need to be away from your business for an extended period.