Читать книгу Estate Planning Through Family Meetings - Lynne Butler - Страница 10

No two families or people are exactly alike. Their reasons for neglecting to carry out basic estate planning are never alike either, as they can be logistical, emotional, or a combination of both. However, there are some reasons that North American families and individuals give more often than others when asked about their reluctance to plan. Generally speaking, people are aware that they need to do “something” to deal with end of life and incapacity. Messages about the importance of planning are everywhere. The problem is not lack of awareness; the problem is taking action.

In this chapter, you will read about some of the reasons commonly voiced for failing to plan for the future. Some of these may sound familiar to you through your conversations with your own family members. You may even have used one or two of them yourself. If you have heard them from family members in your efforts to motivate them to get on with their planning, reading this chapter may give you more insight into their thoughts, fears, and feelings. You will find out what you are up against when you begin to plan your family meeting.

This chapter may also give you some ideas about how to counter these reasons if your parents or other relatives use them as an excuse not to plan. If some of the reasons are new to you and you have not heard them mentioned by your family members, you might find it useful to think about whether one (or more) of them is actually the true, underlying reason for their resistance to planning. If a real impediment exists, it must be dealt with so that an estate plan may be put together. However, unless the impediment is identified and revealed to you, it will never be removed.