Life can be difficult to plan for and it often does not turn out as we would expect. We often feel disconnected from our future selves and put off making critical plans for the future. Many people put off estate planning and addressing difficult issues of how they wish to be cared for in their elder years. Some seniors, unfortunately, take the stance of, “When I need your help, I’ll let you know.”

Thinking we can postpone planning and will know when we need help is a dangerous myth to believe in. In most cases when we reach the point where we need help we are often unaware or unable to ask for it and we suffer as a result of not planning ahead. Failing to plan for our elder years often leads to tragic consequences. It is vitally important that we do not succumb to myths about what life will be like in our elder years and put off putting a plan in place today that could help us in the future.

Senior Myths That Could Lead To Disaster

1. When I need your help I’ll let you know.
2. I will live in my own home until I die.
3. When I am old, ill, and dying, my family will take care of me.
4. When I can no longer manage my money and financial affairs, a trusted person will handle my finances.
5. I don’t want or need to do any estate planning or write a will because my family will sort it all out when I die.

Why Is It So Difficult To Plan for the Future?

One of the things that make humans unique is our ability to visualize and shape our futures. We try to look at our present reality and experiences and project that into a future reality. Unfortunately, there is bad news for all of us when it comes to planning for the future. We are really bad at it. We often cannot simply see dangers ahead and have a difficult time confronting difficult things in our present moment.

“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations if you live near him.” -J.R.R Tolkien in “The Hobbit”

How can we avoid dangerous myths and plan for our future?

Close The Mental Gap Between Your Present Self and Future Self

One of the biggest reasons we struggle to plan for the future is because we feel disconnected from our future selves. Hal Hershfield, a marketing professor at UCLA researched how being disconnected from our future selves affected how we save money in the present. In one experiment Hershfield discovered that people were likely to save sooner and save more if they were shown a digitally aged photo of themselves. When we close the gap between our future and present selves we can begin to make better decisions and plan ahead.

Take a moment today to try to visualize what your future might be like or help a loved one try to connect the dots and think about what life might be like in the future. The more we can connect the future to the present the more likely we will be to take action today.

Be willing to push through a little pain today to avoid more pain tomorrow.

Our biggest weakness when it comes to future planning as humans are our propensity to always push pain and uncomfortable tasks to the future. In an odd experiment by Princeton psychologist Emily Pronin, students thought they were participating in a study about disgust. Participants were asked to drink a gross liquid for the good of science. Those who were signed up to drink the liquid that day volunteered to consume only two tablespoons, on average. However, those who were signed up to drink the liquid next semester volunteered to drink half a cup on average. It seems that pain and discomfort is a bitter pill that we always opt for our future selves to swallow.

It may be a little uncomfortable to start thinking about estate planning or pick up the phone to call a legal professional to set up an appointment. It may be uncomfortable to bring up the topic with someone you care about. However facing discomfort and inconvenience now can help avoid an enormous amount of pain, disappointment in the future.

Don’t fall for any of these senior myths, start planning today for yourself and for those you care about.

The post Senior Myths That Lead To Disaster first appeared on Gary Crews | Tulsa Probate Attorney.

Business attorneys do far more than simply join you in court if the need ever arises. They are available to help you negotiate the best terms for your business in regards to everyday business decisions such as purchasing, leasing, and staff contracts. Having a strong relationship with your business attorney is fundamental to the growth of your business. 

Here at Gary Crews Law, we are here to protect your business and guide you through the maze of legal issues. As technology changes the way business operates, we have taken pride in our ability to adapt through strategic relationships with companies that understand the potential issues that business owners may face online. That is why we have enlisted the help from a local media company, McWilliams Media. Our inbox is loaded with emails that promise to “get us to the top of Google.” McWilliams Media just touched on how to protect yourself from the online spam you get in your inboxes. They laid out a few simple steps to recognize spam:

• Unsolicited emails and/or comments left on your website
• Consider the email address
• Research their company
• Requesting private information too soon.

To see the full article, click HERE

When it comes to protecting your business, we are here to help and point you in the right direction for a bright future in your business venues.

You don’t have to be in it alone. Contact us today to schedule a FREE consultation.

Contact Information:

Email: gcrews@att.net

Phone: (918) 493-3360

Fax: (918) 493-2203

The post Business Owners- Are You Protected? first appeared on Gary Crews | Tulsa Probate Attorney.

We were recently contacted by a Successor Trustee looking to obtain access to the client’s digital property and accounts. Unfortunately, there was no digital asset provision in place before the passing of the client. Due to this issue, a variety of social media accounts were unable to be accessed, even when contact was made with the social media corporations. This meant that all social media content was to be locked live on the internet and items such as photos, music, social media accounts were unable to be altered, accessed, or even deleted after the passing of our client.

This illustrates the importance of incorporating such planning into a comprehensive estate plan.  Expecting a client to create and maintain an up-to-date roster of their digital property along with usernames and passwords is uncommon.

In order to avoid such issues as mentioned in the story above, we began incorporating digital asset language into our estate plans in 2016.  If your estate plan was drafted earlier than 2016 or if you are looking to create an estate plan for the first time, you might want to include this type of language to protect your digital assets.

Contact us in order to verify if your digital assets are protected. If not, we will work hard to create an amendment and make sure you are properly covered!

The post The Importance of Digital Asset Provisions first appeared on Gary Crews | Tulsa Probate Attorney.

Estate planning isn’t solely for young adults with children, but for everyone. There are things to consider such as: who I would like my home to go to and other assets as well. There is also the need to consider how you would like your life to be managed if you were unable to cognitively make decisions. 

Here are 3 of the top reasons we believe young adults should reevaluate their relationship with estate planning:

1. What do you want to happen to your assets?

Young adults these days are having to work incredibly hard to create financial stability and succeed in the workforce. Buying a car, buying a home, having savings, and paying off debts are all things that they are working hard to accomplish. Let’s imagine that you have begun to chip away at those goals and now own a car, a home, and have a nice 401(k) plan at work. It is important that you do not let these items go when you pass.

It is important to remember that the loss of a family member and close friend is devastating and unfortunately, not something that’s an enjoyable discussion. It’s not fun to prepare for death, but it is only reasonable to ensure your hard work will have not been done in vain, but it is also important to protect the ones you love most from having to deal with any additional stress during a time of crisis.

2. How would you like your life to be managed if you were incapacitated?

The goal of estate planning is not to focus on the possibilities of death or focus on the negative aspects of life. The ultimate goal in estate planning is for your dreams to be known and fulfilled, while also protecting the ones you love. Such occasions could look like life-support, organ donation, etc. This is why it is important to consider how you would like your life to be managed if a disaster was to happen.

3. What kind of desire do you have for your passing?

One of the least discussed aspects of estate planning involves discussing the way in which you want your possessions to be managed at the end of your life. The decisions surrounding funerals, cremation, and more are large stresses for family and friends after losing someone dear to them. This is a fantastic opportunity to make the difficult decisions ahead of time in order to provide support to your loved ones during a difficult time.

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Estate planning is an opportunity for you to control your future and ensure that your wishes are fulfilled. It is also an opportunity to show your loved ones how important they were to you. Planning for these occasions is a powerful way to demonstrate love for those around you, but most importantly for yourself.  

Speaking with a professional Estate Planner like Gary W. Crews can alleviate any stress you may have surrounding estate planning. It doesn’t have to be daunting, and our team is here to ensure you of that.

We are here for YOU!

The post Why Millennials Without Children Should Consider Estate Planning first appeared on Gary Crews | Tulsa Probate Attorney.