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Is it wrong to ask your parents about their estate plan?

On Behalf of | Oct 30, 2024 | Estate Planning

If your parents are getting on, you may wonder if they have an estate plan in place. You might want to know whether they have any particular wishes regarding treatment should they fall seriously ill. Or if they have thought about what kind of funeral they want and who will take charge of dealing with everything once they are gone.

So, in short, it is not wrong to ask your parents whether they have an estate plan. That does not mean it will necessarily be easy for you. You might be concerned they will think you want to know how much money they will leave you. Or maybe your parents have always kept their financial and legal affairs private and you feel a bit rude asking.

Asking is in your interest and theirs

Maybe your parents have not yet made a plan, and your asking could push them toward doing so. Perhaps they just don’t know where to start and you can help them find a good attorney to guide them through the process.

Or perhaps they had been meaning to ask you to act as executor, but haven’t around to it and your broaching the subject helps them get that task ticked off.

It’s also possible that your parents have some kind of plan in place, but it is vastly inadequate, or misguided. For instance, if they let you look at the plan you’ll see that it does not cover many of the things they now own. Or they have your sister down to get the summer house, and you a lump sum of cash, when you know she hates that place but could really use some hard cash. It might even be that they have a great plan in order, and you can rest assured all is well. One thing is sure. If you don’t ask, you won’t know.

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