There are many people who do not write a will until they are in their 60s. For instance, retirement often gets people thinking about the next steps or where their life is headed and what will happen to their assets in the next generation. It is very natural to write an estate plan at this time.
But you do not actually have to wait until you are near the end of your life to create an estate plan. In Pennsylvania, the only age requirement is that you must be 18 years old.
Is it beneficial to plan early?
Planning early can be beneficial for a few reasons. For one thing, you also have to be of sound mind to make an estate plan, something that can be compromised as you age by dementia, Alzheimer’s or other such conditions. Drafting your estate plan early helps you get around this issue.
On top of that, remember that there is no guarantee that your family will only be using your estate plan a long time in the future. You could pass away unexpectedly, perhaps due to an illness or a traumatic injury, so it is better to have a plan in place early.
Finally, people at relatively young ages sometimes have unique estate planning needs. For instance, if you have a child, you may want to use your estate plan to set up a guardianship and select someone to care for your child if you pass away. There is no reason to put off this type of decision.
Creating your estate plan
As you can see, as long as you are a legal adult, there is nothing preventing you from making an estate plan. Just be sure you carefully look into all of the necessary legal steps.
