Your parents retired recently, and while you feel happy for them, you may also worry about their future. Have they tended to planning their estate?
If you struggle to talk to your parents about their will, trust and financial funeral arrangements, MoneyCrashers has tips you may find useful. Learn how to prepare your parents and yourself for the inevitable.
Practice patience
Just as this subject presents difficulties for you, the same applies to your mother and father. Go into the topic with the spirit of patience, realizing that your parents may be reluctant to think about their deaths and leaving you. Consider the right time and place to have the conversation, and know it is fine to have several conversations on the matter over time rather than a single discussion at once.
Include your siblings
If you have siblings, try to include them in the conversation. Planning your parents’ concerns them, too, and you do not want to give the impression that you want to manipulate your loved ones. Also, you may need help with helping your parents, and including everyone in the conversation could avoid family arguments.
Focus on the future
Talking to your parents about their estate, assets and end-of-life desires may trigger harmful memories for you. Try to resist acting or speaking from a place of pain while talking with your parents. Make settling your parents’ financial and emotional affairs your highest priority.
Take notes
Sometimes, people change their will, health care directive or other estate planning documents. Keep notes of what your parents tell you, so you have a point of reference. Also, ensure your parents note their most current wishes in a valid will.
