Most young adults do not think about future estate planning. However, reality is that you cannot predict the future outcomes of your life, whether there is an unfortunate disability or even death, estate planning for young adults makes sense.

It is unfortunate, but true that unforeseeable accidents and tragedies do happen to young adults, and are becoming more common in today’s day and age. When a young adult is under the age of 18 usually their parents make all of their medical and financial decisions for them. This unfortunately changes once you hit 18.

There are certain privacy laws that are in place to protect everyday people. This is a major disadvantage to someone who does not have an estate plan in place. For example, if you were to become incapacitated and over the age of 18, it is very hard for your family to make decisions about your medical care and financial situation, unless  you have the proper legal paper work in place. Sometimes hospitals and other service providers will not even talk to parents or family members if they do not have legal paperwork suggesting otherwise.

To prevent your family from going through tremendous difficult times during an already stressful time, you should schedule a consultation with an Estate Planning Attorney on your 18^th birthday. They will guide you and draft forms that can help prevent situations as described above. Some of the forms will include, but are not limited to:

• Durable Power of Attorney for Heath Care;
• Health Care Surrogate;
• Durable Financial Power of Attorney;
• HIPPA Authorizations;
• Living Will;
• Last Will & Testament;
• Etc.

If you have any Estate Planning questions we invite you to contact us for more details.