Estate Planning and the Single Person

By: Skjold-Barthel

To many single persons, divorced, unmarried, widowed or otherwise, the thought of estate planning seems remote, even unnecessary. Why would I need an estate plan? I’m young. I don’t have any dependants. I don’t have a lot of assets. In fact, the converse is true. Generally it is even more important for a single person than it is for a married couple to have proper estate planning in order. In a marriage, it is usually assumed that your spouse, even in the absence of any estate planning, is the person the court will appoint as personal representative over your estate. Your spouse is also typically the person that would likely be the agent over your personal and health care decisions and the person to act as conservator over your financial affairs.

If you are single, who would serve in each of these roles? Moreover, if you are a single parent, these roles are amplified in importance because of your children. Who would act as guardian over your children? Who is going to help ensure that your children’s financial needs are properly addressed if you pass away? Under these circumstances, if you have not prepared an estate plan, you very well could be leaving each of these important and often very personal decisions and preferences to a court that may end up designating individuals who you would not necessarily want to serve as a personal representative over your estate, or as a guardian, health care agent or conservator over your affairs. As a result, this failure to prepare on your part may produce outcomes you do not want.

Singles often cite the following excuses, as reasons why they have not yet prepared an estate plan:

• I’m too busy or I don’t have enough time to get started;
• I prefer not want to think about my death or the possibility of incapacity or infirmity;
• Estate planning is too expensive;
• I don’t own enough assets to justify an estate plan;
• I’m undecided or unable to select who I want to serve as my personal representative, my agent or to be guardian over my children.

Being “too busy” may simply be a convenient excuse for procrastinating. Similarly, singles often cite the cost of estate planning as a reason to avoid taking action. Much like an insurance product however, the price involved in planning your estate in advance is relatively inexpensive compared to the alternative of failing to act and leaving important decisions to the court. Estate plans encompass more than dealing with distribution of wealth. Estate plans also addresses who and how your personal, health care and financial decisions will be handled if you should become incapacitated or infirm. If you have children, your estate plan attends to who you want to care for them and how you want that care administered. Thus, regardless of your financial status, other important decisions should be addressed with through your will, health care directive (living will), power of attorney and guardianship provisions. Because of the many possibilities, singles are encouraged to address these important end-of-life issues, just as married persons.