Broaching the Topic of Estate Planning

For some women, starting a conversation about estate planning can be difficult. According to Deborah L. Jacobs, author of the book Estate Planning Smarts and many estate planning related articles, using different conversation starters depending on whom you want to discuss your estate plans with can help the conversation begin smoothly.

Allowing a conversation to develop naturally, perhaps by first discussing a current event or anecdote having to do with estate planning, can help ease the tension surrounding the topic. When broaching the subject with a spouse or partner, stressing your own mortality and its potential effect on the family can make the subject appear a mutual concern to both you and your partner.

When discussing the topic with adult children, it may be wise to discuss your plans with each child individually. Additionally, it may be beneficial to listen to the children’s ideas and opinions regarding your decisions. It may also help ease future anger and torment if you explain why you chose to leave a specific item to specific child if the inheritances differ.

When an adult child wishes to discusses his or her parents’ estate plans, the parents may respond negatively. To help the topic seem less threatening, you can begin a conversation by discussing your own estate plan or by relaying a story about a friend’s misfortune after his or her parents failed to have a proper estate plan.

See Deborah L. Jacobs, Nice Girls Talk About Estate Planning, Forbes, Aug. 9, 2011.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (WealthCounsel) for bringing this article to my attention.