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When Certified Financial Planner (CFP) AJ Ayers helped clients with their basic estate planning documents, he noticed they often got stuck on one step: finalizing the paperwork.
“They will create an online estate plan and then not complete the step where you need a notary to sign it with two witnesses,” she says.
To overcome this obstacle, Ayers and his team at Brooklyn FI—a financial planning firm in New York—threw a series of “Martins and Deaths” parties. Clients can bring their prepared documents to be notarized during socialization.
The series was such a hit that he has already done four more. And he’s seen more of his customers talking.
Add tasks to your calendar
Maybe you don’t have a fun notary event to attend, but you can make a date with yourself to make it happen. Translation: Pick a time and place and put it on your calendar. First, finish your paperwork. Next, find a notary at your local bank, credit union or even a UPS store.
“It’s just an administrative hurdle for clients with busy lives,” says Ayers.
Just like visiting the dentist or scheduling an annual checkup, you need to schedule it. You can even plan to reward yourself with your favorite drink after you get home to make sure you keep the self-imposed appointment.
“It doesn’t matter what you have, it’s yours and it’s precious,” she says. This could include a small bank account, a digital asset such as a social media account or a piece of sentiment that has sentimental value.
“People will come up to me and say, ‘I don’t have anything,'” says Maryland-based Whittaker Bryant. But when she presses them, she learns that they have a house, bank account and other assets that they want to leave to their loved ones.
Writing down all of this information is an important step, and it’s easy. She says this often helps people overcome their reluctance to think about estate planning.
Seek your help
People who don’t have children may need professional help to make decisions, says Nashville-area-based Jay Zygmont, founder of Child Free Trust.
“The whole estate system assumes you have next of kin, and if you don’t, it breaks,” he says. The Child Free Trust offers a trustee to serve in this role if needed.
“We basically become next to their relatives,” Zygmont says. “It’s about who will make decisions for you while you’re alive.”
Websites such as Trust & Will, LegalZoom and Freewill offer other estate planning options.
Get motivation from your loved ones
Without an estate plan, family members are often left scrambling. Managing someone’s finances if they become incapacitated – or settling an estate on death – is a complex process that can involve lawyers, courts and lots of paperwork.
Even as a financial expert, Beth Pinsker, a CFP in New York, found the job challenging when she suddenly had to take over her mother’s finances.
Her book, “My Mother’s Money: A Guide to Financial Care,” aims to help others with what she has learned.
“It’s so easy to do these things before facing the consequences of not doing them,” she says.
Your loved ones can make medical and financial decisions for you more easily, if needed, with proper estate planning documentation.
“You need some kind of directive document and legal permission for someone to be in charge after you die,” Pinsker says.
Once your documents are complete and official, you and your loved ones can live with less worry.
