The delay in creating an estate plan has many excuses behind it and none of them are good.
Wealthy people who delay getting estate plans have reasons that go beyond the common ones, according to a discussion by Barron's in "Don't Delay Planning Your Estate."
There are many reasons for delaying the creation of an estate plan, including the following: a decision to not think about death, the idea that a plan is probably complicated and if you don’t have many assets you don’t really need one.
On the other hand, wealthy people often put off estate planning because of indecision. They are not sure what to do and to whom they should leave different assets. They also often have doubts about how much wealth they should leave to their children and how much they should leave to charity.
This uncertainty causes them to delay going to an estate planning attorney. They believe what they should do will become clearer later.
The problem is that it really does not matter why someone delays getting an estate plan. Whatever the reason, not getting an estate plan is risky, especially for the wealthy.
No amount of wealth can guarantee that a person will not have an accident before he or she gets around to estate planning.
An estate planning attorney can help guide you in coming to decisions that best fit your unique circumstances.
Reference: Barron's (Feb. 10, 2017) "Don't Delay Planning Your Estate."