“Despite how it safeguards their families, many men avoid will-writing and estate planning. What is it that makes them so hesitant to do it?”
The question is why do so many great dads turn into little boys, when it comes to addressing the tasks of having a will prepared and creating estate and guardianship plans for their children? Many say getting dads into their offices to get the process of creating an estate plan started, is extremely difficult. Having conversations about who should rear their children, if they should die, is nearly impossible.
The same dads who are obsessive about getting their collector cars tuned up every three months and checking smoke alarm batteries monthly, will keep putting off the will-signing appointment for months or years at a time.
It’s a superstitious thought: if I don’t have a will, I don’t die. However, it’s more than that.
Many men feel that if they don’t have a lot of money, why bother with a will? Others say they don’t care what happens, since other people will figure out what to do after they are gone. Some say that their fathers didn’t have a will and things worked out. If you grew up in a family where estate planning and wills were discussed and not considered taboo subjects, you will be more likely to have an estate plan in place.
Sometimes, the men whose fathers were difficult about having a will, are more proactive about creating a will, since they don’t want to do what their dad did.
However, if you have the responsibility of fatherhood, you must have a will. A will is used to name a guardian (the person you want to raise your children), if you are dead or incapacitated. It can also name a person who will take care of the money left behind for your children. Children are perhaps the biggest reason for dads to have an estate plan.
Failure to have an estate plan means that a court will make the decision about who will rear your child and opens the possibility of a family battle over who will have that responsibility.
Don’t be like your dad if he was one who refused to have a will and left a mess for the family to clean up after his passing. Don’t avoid visiting your estate planning attorney. Remember that you are a model for your children and this is another way that you can show them that being a good father means taking care of the details—even when they are difficult.
Reference: Fatherly (Sep. 12, 2018) “If You Do One Thing For Your Kids, Plan For Your Death”
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