Don’t Wait for a Missing Diamond: Why Estate Planning Shouldn’t Stay on Your To-Do List

Ginger Weber, CFP^®, President, Principal, Advisor

I knew my engagement ring needed attention. It had been getting tighter on my finger for a long time, and more than once I told myself I should take it to a jeweler, but never did. There was always something more pressing, and the ring didn’t seem urgent.

Then, this past summer, my husband and I spent our 28th anniversary on the Oregon coast. During the trip, my ring kept snagging on my clothes. When I looked down, the diamond was gone. We searched everywhere we’d been but it never turned up. The next day, my rings had to be cut off my finger.

I’d had plenty of chances to deal with that ring, and each time I decided it could wait.

In our 36 years at Premier Financial Group, I’ve watched the same thing happen with estate planning. Most people who delay are aware that it needs to be done and fully intend to take care of it eventually, they just haven’t gotten to it yet.

I saw this with complete understanding, because we all have our lists of things we put off. But estate planning is different in a critical way. When we wait too long, someone else may have to pay the price.

Why We Put it Off

Even the most financially savvy families we work with still procrastinate on their estate plans, and most often, it comes down to a few very human reasons. 

• The decisions feel hard. Who should inherit, and how? What if one child is great with money and another isn’t? Who would raise your kids if you couldn’t? When the answers feel unsettled, it’s tempting to keep postponing the whole thing.
• Finding an attorney feels like a project in itself. Without someone you already trust, the first step can seem bigger than it is.
• No one enjoys thinking about it. Planning for your own death or incapacity is uncomfortable, so it gets filed as a task to take care of later.
• The what-ifs pile up. Many people worry that signing documents locks them in, but plans can be updated at any time.
• There are more appealing ways to spend money. Given the choice between an attorney’s fees and a vacation, there’s a clear winner.

What Waiting Can Cost

Over the years, we’ve seen certain situations come up again and again. The examples below are representative scenarios, not any one family’s story.

A Partner Living in a Home They Don’t Own

Many committed couples choose not to marry, or keep their estates separate, often for good reasons, such as children from earlier relationships. One partner may move into the other’s home. If the homeowner dies without a plan that addresses this, the house passes according to their documents or state law. The surviving partner may have no legal right to stay and could be asked to leave. A provision allowing the partner to remain in the home for a set period can prevent that, but it must be put in writing.

Documents Signed in a Hospital Room

Sometimes people wait until a serious diagnosis or hospitalization forces the issue. We’ve seen families scramble to have an attorney come to the hospital to execute documents at the last minute. Even when it works, it’s incredibly stressful. Major decisions get made quickly, while someone is ill and their loved ones are frightened. And if the person loses the capacity to sign before the documents are ready, the family may have to go to court for the authority to manage finances or make decisions on their behalf.

Outdated Beneficiary Forms

After a divorce, remarriage, or death in the family, people often know their beneficiary designations need to change. When that task gets postponed, an account can pass to someone they never intended, and in many cases a will can’t override the form.

Survivors Left to Pick up the Pieces

When one spouse handles the finances and never organizes paperwork, the surviving spouse or relative may end up spending months contacting institutions and repeating the same painful news. Important deadlines, such as required minimum distributions, can be missed, which may lead to tax penalties on top of the loss.

Your Estate Planning Timeline

Estate planning becomes far more manageable when broken into steps. Here’s a helpful path:

This week: Make one phone call. Contact an estate planning attorney and book a meeting. If you don’t know of one to work with, ask your financial advisor for a referral. Once that meeting is on the calendar, the rest of the process has something to organize around.

Weeks 1-3: Make the key decisions. Think through who should inherit your assets and whether they should receive them outright or in trust. If you have minor children, consider who you’d want as their guardian. Choose your successor trustee, executor, financial power of attorney, and health care agent. If you have a partner you’re not married to, or a blended family, decide what should happen with shared homes and assets. 

Weeks 2-4: Gather your information. List your bank and investment accounts, retirement plans (including old pensions and 401(k)s from past employers), life insurance, real estate, and debts. Review your current beneficiary designations, since they often override what your will or trust says.

Weeks 3-5: Meet with your attorney. Your attorney will typically prepare a living trust, pour-over will, durable power of attorney, and advance health care directive based on your goals.

Weeks 6-10: Review the drafts and sign. This is the step where plans most often stall. Read the drafts, ask your questions, and book the signing while the details are fresh. A signed plan can always be revised while an unsigned one protects no one. 

Within 60 days of signing: Put your plan to work. Retitle real estate and accounts into your trust, align beneficiary designations with your plan, and consolidate scattered accounts where it makes sense. 

After signing: Tell the right people. Let the people you’ve named know about their roles and where your documents are kept.

Every 3-5 years, and after major life events: Act on what you know. Marriage, divorce, a new partner, a birth or a death in the family, a new home, or a major change in health or wealth are all signals to update your plan.

Choose Now, Not Later

I’ll never get that diamond back. If I had taken my ring in when I first knew it needed attention, I’d likely still have it. Most of us have something on our list that we know we should handle. If your estate plan is on that list, I encourage you to stop waiting. 

If you don’t know where to start, make that first call to Premier Financial Group. We can provide guidance and connect you with other professionals to take your plan all the way from an idea to a signed, living document that will protect you and your loved ones for years to come.