Willful Thinking by Kathy Crombie, RLM Director of Gift Planning

For most people I've spoken with, the hardest part of completing a will is deciding that it needs to be done in the first place. As you can well imagine, there are many excuses cited for not having completed the proper estate planning documentation. Here are just a few people have shared with me over the years:

• "We're just way too busy with our family. Maybe someday we'll have more time."

• "We have no children ... it's just the two of us. Who are we going to leave it to?"

• "I'm young. What's the rush? We don't need a will until we're much older."

• "We aren't rich, we don't have much, and we don't have an attorney."

• "I don't want to talk about dying. When we talk about wills, we're talking about dying."

• "All that legal talk confuses us. We don't have a clue what we need to do."

Even if we are "too busy," "too young," "have no children," "aren't rich," "confused," or "don't want to talk about end of life decisions," the need for a will still exists. Approximately 70 percent of Americans do not currently have a will. Sadly, if one of them dies today, they will have no say in how their estate is divided by the probate court judge.

Plans to divide and distribute someone's hard-earned assets at death, as well as provide legal guardianship for minor children, should be formalized through the creation of a will during one's lifetime. At death, it's too late to complete a will. Like it or not, without a will the probate court judge makes all the final decisions.

If you currently do not have a will, or need to update the one you already have, contact Right to Life of Michigan today. We can help!

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