In this Elder Law Minute, Kaye DeSelms Dent explains why simplifying your belongings and giving meaningful items away during your lifetime can be an important part of estate planning.
Introduction
Hi, I’m Kaye DeSelms Dent with Dent Coulson Elder Law here with an elder law minute for you. These videos are intended to educate you about the elder care journey which begins earlier in life than you might think. We hope that you find them useful and if you have further questions, please call us at Dent Coulson Elderlaw.
Why Your Kids Need More Time and Less Stuff
Today we’re going to talk about why your kids need more time and less stuff.
A Lifetime of Accumulating Things
It seems like we spend a lifetime accumulating stuff. We have garage sales to get rid of. We go on Facebook Marketplace. We rent storage facilities and pay for them every month to put in stuff that we have forgotten about and will never use again.
And then when you pass away, guess who has to go through everything?
This can take hours, days, weeks, months.
Is that really what you want your kids to spend time doing?
What Families Really Value
What we find in this modern world of ours is that our kids and grandkids really don’t want most of our stuff.
So, I have fewer and fewer clients who make what we call specific bequest.
In other words, giving away grandmother’s China or this or that.
Certainly things like wedding rings, truly family heirlooms might still be mentioned in wills and trust and other estate planning documents, but by and large we don’t have really long lists of things anymore.
Give Things Away While You’re Alive
And in fact, we encourage people to give away things while they’re alive and enjoy those moments with their family when they give them items that they’re keeping only to pass down when they pass away.
Anyway, if you have China in a cabinet or something up on a shelf collecting dust or stored in one of those storage lockers, why keep it for when you pass away?
Give Your Family the Gift of Time
Give it away now and give your kids the gift of time so that when you pass away, they can enjoy spending time together or with their own families and not cleaning out your storage locker in your basement.
Food for thought from Dent Coulson Elder Law.
If you’d like more advice on estate planning, please give us a call.
Also looking for information about Medicaid and Asset Preservation? Visit these articles:
“Your Trusted Advisor on the Elder Care Journey”
Dent-Coulson Elder Law is dedicated to providing families in the St. Louis area with their Elder Law needs. Our practice areas include Asset Preservation Planning, Veterans Benefits, Medicaid Eligibility, Alzheimer’s Planning, Special Needs Planning, Estate Planning and more. We understand the financial challenges you may face as you and your loved ones grow older. At Dent-Coulson Elder Law, our clients’ well-being is our number one priority. For immediate help, call (618) 632-7000 (IL) or (314) 567-9292 (MO), or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.