If you are one of the many millennials in Washington State who thinks that creating a will, trust or other type of estate planning document is something only your parents or grandparents need to do, you are not alone. However, you should realize that there are many reasons that make creating a good plan for yourself at this stage of your life very important.
Millennials span a wide age range but many of you are now entering into parenthood and as you do this, you are no doubt learning how this completely changes your life and your outlook on what is important to you. As Nerd Wallet explains, if something happens to you and your child’s other parent while your child is still a minor and you do not have a will or trust in place, your child’s future may be largely dependent on state defaults. Knowing there is no real substitute to a child’s parent, you should want to take control of who would raise your child if you are unable to. An estate plan is the only way to ensure this.
Another situation to consider is if you become incapacitate due to an illness or an accident. A durable power of attorney and a health care directive would allow you to stipulate who should take control of your assets and make decisions on your behalf.
This information is not intended to provide legal advice but is instead meant to help give Washington State residents in the millennial generation some ideas of why creating an estate plan should be important to them now rather than just later in life.
