Being married, widowed or divorced is not the only reason why you should update your last will and testament with an estate planning lawyer. Single individuals now form around 50% of the adult population and for some, and for different reasons, estate planning should be completed as soon as you can arrange your appointment. The consequences of not planning correctly can be worse than for married couples.
The Issues Are Unique to Single People
Where you are married and have no children, with very few exceptions, all of your assets will pass to your spouse on your death, when you have failed to update your will through your estate planning lawyer.
As a single person, with or without children, you may not know who can receive your estate. In the worst-case scenario, your assets may become a gift to your state’s finance department.
Some single people believe that there is no need to write a will if they have never been married, do not expect to be and have no children. Unfortunately, your future may not be so clearly designed. Even where you have very few assets, you may win the lottery tomorrow or soon become the parent of a child that you had not planned for the week previously.
Many matters can change within an individual’s lifestyle and when you discuss these with your estate planning lawyer you can make sensible and clever financial arrangements for any assets you may own when you die.
Some lawyers will ask you to consider leaving your assets to a charity that may benefit at a later stage, rather than directing your property and savings towards parents or other family members that have no requirements for your finances.
What About Your Health?
Your lawyer will suggest that you should assign more than one individual to be able to make decisions about your health when you are incapable of making the decision due to illness or injury. Where you have no family, you may wish to direct close friends or other individuals to be able to help you with this difficult decision-making process.
Your estate planning lawyer will consider your retirement planning and who should benefit if you remain single, without children and have no relations to whom you can leave your assets.
