Should Millennials Create Estate Plans?

Estate Planning for Millennials

As millennials – those born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s – move through adulthood, many question whether estate planning is a worthwhile venture for their needs and their lifestyles. For others, estate planning simply isn’t on their radar. 

To put matters succinctly – yes, creating an estate plan remains a worthwhile method for millennials to protect their most important assets both now and in the future. 

Here’s why millennials should consider making an estate plan while they’re still in their 20s and 30s.

Reason #1 – Protecting an Unmarried Partner

For a variety worthwhile personal and social reasons, a large portion of millennials have chosen to forgo or delay formal marriage. Even so, many still live in committed relationships that they wish to see respected in the case of an untimely injury or death. An estate plan is an excellent method for locking down critical protections for partners not automatically covered through marital bonds.

In many cases, an estate plan can help an individual establish a partner in a key legal role, such as providing them with power of attorney or ensure their partner receives support as a designated beneficiary. Both cases are crucial to ensuring an individual’s wishes are respected with regards to the law and their partner.


Reason #2 – Provide for Charitable Causes

Perhaps more than any previous generation, millennials have been driven to service and social engagement with prosperous effects. Though many have remained socially engaged well into adulthood, few ever consider how they can perpetuate their service even after their passing. Just as in previous generations, charitable giving remains a prime method for accomplishing this goal.

Either as a bequest in a will or by way of a trust, many millennials should consider charitable causes as a worthwhile reason to create an estate plan. Doing so can help solidify a positive social impact to a worthy organization for many decades to come — even after you pass away. 


Reason #3 – Addressing Digital Assets

As digital natives, many millennials have grown up holding valuable digital assets, both personal and business-related. Modern estate plans are one of the best ways to solidify the distribution of these digital assets, especially in categories where current laws lag behind evolving digital realities.

Empowering your Personal Representative to access and manage these digital assets immediately, protects the asset’s value, and makes sure they are properly managed and not lost.

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The Bottom Line

In the end, millennials have plenty of viable reasons to establish an estate plan as soon as possible. When it comes to protecting your assets and wishes, only a well-crafted estate plan can provide full assurance in case of an untimely incapacitation or passing.

Individuals interested in drawing up an estate plan should contact SLNLaw today. Our estate planning services are designed to meet the diverse needs of our clients — regardless of age!

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