It’s important for everyone to know all that they can about estate planning. That means men, women, married couples, single people and anyone else. Far too many people enter old age without an estate plan or pass away without even a will.
However, there is a special amount of focus on women when it comes to estate planning, and the reason is simple: Women tend to outlive men.
This means that all of the estate planning that a man does may get him to the end of his own life, but, if he is in an opposite-sex marriage, his wife may still have plenty of planning to do on her own. She could live for years or even decades after he passes away. Her financial situation could change dramatically in that time.
On top of that, her husband may have figured out how he would want to pass the assets on to the next generation, but she is the one that will actually do it. She will keep the marital assets, and she will distribute them to the children and grandchildren upon her own passing.
Not only does this mean she needs to know how to do estate planning, but it also means that she could end up having the final say. Her desires are the ones that really matter here, and it’s her plan that is going to dictate how things fall for the beneficiaries.
If you are considering your own estate planning, keep all of this in mind. Make sure you know what options you have and what steps you need to take.
