Tame Your Ghost: Why Estate Planning Doesn't Have To Be Terrifying

       This weekend I volunteered at Wills For Heroes, it is an amazing program that provides free basic estate planning to veterans, firefighters, police officers and other first responders. I sat with a married couple to prepare their wills and powers of attorney. The interview was cheerful and sprinkled with easy laughter. When we got the part of the interview that covers the assignment of guardianship for the couple's minor children, barely audible, the wife began to sob. I listened quietly as her husband asked her why she was crying. I offered tissue while she explained that the couple had prayed the entire way to the event. The subject of their prayers had been the safety of their children and leaving her little ones behind had been the part she had feared in the midst of their prayer. The husband expressed that his concerns mirrored that of his wife. 

 Talking about end of life issues in the context of their children had made the couple nervous. I began to explain, that sitting down with me did not mean they were ready to die; it meant that they were ready to live without worry. The couple leaned in as I narrated the list of troubles that their foresight would spare their children. 

        This couple is not alone in their fear and their fear is not an unusual one. Sitting down to discuss your estate plan means that you must face your own mortality. The fact is you will not live forever, but that doesn't have to mean that you cannot take care of your family long after you are gone. The planning process is not a declaration that you have given up on life but rather a declaration that you have decided to live a life without fear of the unknown. 

 
       We were able to come up with a plan that made sense for the couple and their family and I was able to suggest some additional planning beyond the services of the Wills For Heroes program. We had defeated the shadowy ghost of uncertainty together and by the end of our session, both husband and wife were all smiles. 
       This experience reminded me that we all have our own ghosts to wrestle with but coming to the mat with a plan in hand, renders your foe already defeated.  

Keo'vonne W.

"Turn Your Dream Into Your Legacy"