“Less stress leads to better sleep, improved health, and a greater sense of security. And, at its core, estate planning is about reducing stress”, North Carolina estate planning and elder law attorney Greg McIntyre observes. “While most people associate estate planning with finances and inheritance, it also plays a vital role in mental health for the person designing and the loved ones they leave behind,” the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) confirms.
“Some steps can help ensure that people make consistently strong choices, including gathering as much information as possible, considering all the possible alternatives — as well as their attendant benefits and costs, and taking the time to sleep on weightier decisions,” Psychology Today explains..
With that truth in mind, our estate planning attorneys at Geyer Legal focus on discussions before documents, helping each client weigh decisions on their very own “importance scale”:
- For married couples: How important is it to protect their assets in case one dies and the other remarries?
- For parents: How important is it to protect their legacy from their children’s creditors?
- For property owners: How important is it for the property to remain in the family?
- For those who want to give back to the community: How important is it to define exactly how the money must be used?
- For business owners: how important is it to equalize the inheritance of children who work in the business and those who do not?
- For pet owners: How important is it to provide for pets who survive them?
- For those who have family members with special needs: What are the most important steps to secure continued support of those members?
- For those who want to be remembered in a certain way: What instructions for a funeral service or celebration of life are important to leave, and how?
“Behind every choice is a blend of psychological processes that involve memory, perception, emotion, and reasoning”,a Touro University Worldwide paper explains. When it comes to estate planning , most parents and grandparents want to treat heirs fairly in their estate pan, but fair does not necessarily mean equal. “There may be special circumstances to consider, estate planning.com points out.
As we state on the opening page of the Geyer Legal website, “We understand the challenges, fears, and family dynamics that often come into play with legal issues, and our goal is helping you develop a plan that provides the peace of mind you need. Over our 25 years in practice, we’ve seen over and over again the way creating and setting in place an estate plan plays a positive role in the our clients’ mental health.
– by Cara Chittenden, Attorney with Geyer Legal Group
