Jul 13, 2016
No one relishes discussing what will happen when they or their parents become too feeble to manage money. If you’re entering old age, or are an adult child of elderly parents, time is of the essence to discuss these matters. The longer you put off having these discussions with your family, the greater the risk that illness or injury will strike and make these conversations impossible.
Fidelity Investments recently conducted its annual Family & Finance study, speaking with one child and one parent from each participating family to learn about how children and parents looked at end of life issues differently. Here are some of the findings of their study:
*90% of parents thought they should never depend on their kids financially vs. 30% of kids feeling like this is the case, and 25% of children already assuming they would provide financial support to their parents.
*50% of adult children report that there has been no conversation with their parents on the subject of a will, but 69% of parents say that they have had this conversation with their kids.
*30% of all parents and children do not agree about whether or not the children know where to find their parents’ will or other end-of-life planning documents.
*75% of all parents assume that their children will take over their long-term care planning, but 40% of children were surprised to learn that their parents intended for them to take on this task.
Conversations about these end-of-life issues are difficult to have not only because of the emotional weight, but also because of the intimidating number of issues which you need to cover. Many families find that these discussions can be easier to have when facilitated by an estate planning professional. A wills and trusts attorney can guide your family through the process of creating critical documents such as a last will and testament and living will directive. These documents can provide peace of mind both to children, in knowing how they can best support their parents in old age, and parents, in knowing that their children understand their wishes and will carry them out.
If you are a Northern Kentucky resident in need of assistance with creating estate planning documents, such as a living trust or will, contact the knowledgeable and detail-oriented Florence estate planning attorneys at Greta Hoffman & Associates for a consultation, at 859-535-0264.
