It is wise to discuss estate planning with your parents.

Your parents are getting older.

Perhaps their health is declining.

Maybe they are simply nearing retirement.

As they age, they may require more of your support.

According to a recent Yahoo Finance article titled “How To Talk to Your Parents About Their Estate Plan (Without Making It Awkward),” the best way to know how to support your parents is to discuss estate planning with them.

Take time to discuss estate planning considerations with your aging parents.

In general, this is a hard topic to broach.

You may fear your concern being misconstrued as being a little nosy at best and a tad greedy at worst.

Also, talking about death can unleash many painful emotions.

How do you begin?

There is no need to tiptoe around the topic, but you can express how it is difficult for you to discuss estate planning.

Ask whether your parents have an estate plan.

Simply explain that you want to be able to follow their instructions when the time comes.

You do not need to know the specific numbers.

Rather, you want to ensure that they have at least the estate planning basics: a last will and testament, a power of attorney, and advance health care directive.

If they have them in place and you are the executor or the agent listed, you should ask where the originals of the documents are stored.

You should also ask about funeral instructions, information for their professional advisors, and passwords for accounts.

Taking the time to discuss estate planning as a family now will help you to better support your parents in their time of need.

Reference: Yahoo Finance (Oct. 7, 2020) “How To Talk to Your Parents About Their Estate Plan (Without Making It Awkward)”