Why Young Adults and Families Need an Estate Plan

By Attorney & Counselor, Corina “Cory” Raven

Estate planning isn’t just for retirees. If you’re married, own real estate, or have started building wealth, you already have an estate and you need a plan for it. There’s no birthday that triggers the need for a will. The real test is simpler: do you have an opinion about what happens to your property, your children, or your business interests when you’re gone? If the answer is yes, it’s time to get a plan in place.

We often encounter folks who are waiting for some kind of milestone in order to start thinking about their estate plan.  The issue is that waiting for the “right time” just means gambling on whether the State of Texas gets to decide who inherits your estate should something happen to you in the meantime.  Intestacy statutes are the default distribution formulas the state applies when someone dies without a will, allocating their assets according to a fixed legal scheme rather than any personal wishes they may have had. The split depends on whether property is separate or community, and whether the deceased is survived by a spouse, children, or other relatives, and it often produces outcomes you may never have chosen. Intestacy can be rigid, impersonal, and costly to untangle, and, importantly for our clients and landowners, it offers no guarantee of keeping land with specific heirs as you may desire.

Another common misconception among our younger clients is that estate planning is just about wills. The other half of an estate plan is the ancillary and disability documents that let someone come to your aid in an emergency. A statutory durable power of attorney and a medical power of attorney let someone you trust step in and manage your finances or make medical decisions if you’re incapacitated, even temporarily. Every adult, regardless of age or net worth, benefits from having these documents in place before they’re needed.

For those who have children, the stakes are even higher. A declaration of guardianship, also part of that ancillary and disability suite, lets you name who should raise them rather than leaving that decision to a judge. Proper estate planning goes a step further, ensuring someone is also appointed to manage what your children inherit, so that person is who you choose, and to help make sure that those assets are used appropriately for their wellbeing and care.

Estate planning isn’t a one-and-done life event. It’s something to revisit every decade, and after major life changes like marriage, divorce, births, or deaths in the family. There’s no such thing as being too early to get your documents in place, and no guarantee that a “better time” is waiting just around the corner. The best time to plan is now, while the choice is still entirely yours to make.  The attorneys at Braun & Gresham are ready to help individuals of any age and families alike achieve their planning goals.