Women today have many unique situations that require special treatment when it comes to estate planning. Well, maybe not special treatment, but women need to take extra care that they are protected through good planning. Here are some examples:
Young mom stays home with the kids
Maybe she gave up a wonderful career to be a full-time mom; maybe she’s even a homeschooling mom. If something happens to her husband without good planning, she may be forced to go back to work and send the kids to full-time school/preschool. A will, a trust and plenty of life insurance will provide the protection she needs.
Newlywed helps put husband through medical school
She put her own education on hold to work full-time knowing that once he’s got the MD she can go back to school and do whatever she wants. But if her husband dies without a plan, she may be left without a breadwinner and without the education she planned to get. Add a baby to the mix, and you really have a stressful situation. The husband’s student loans die with him, but so does the income they had counted on for the future.
Homemaker left out in the cold
She never worked outside the home, but she took care of (pampered, really) her husband, 3 children and now 7 grandkids. If her husband dies without a plan, she may be left with a mortgage, a car loan, horrible job prospects and a tiny social security or monthly pension. Even if they did have plenty of money, she is left with the stress of trying to sort out all the financial details, which, for their 45 years of marriage, he had always taken care of with their accountant, financial advisor, etc. Now it’s dropped in her lap, and she doesn’t know the first place to start. It’s overwhelming.
Single, career woman
In her mid-50’s, she’s doing well for herself — saving for retirement and enjoying life. Suddenly she has a stroke. Without a plan, she has nothing in place to govern who will manage her money or care for her if she becomes disabled. The hospital social worker tries to contact her nephew in Texas, but she’s not seen him for 10 years, and he knows nothing of her situation or goals. She has friends who might be willing to help, but she’s never discussed it with them. And she never took legal steps to give them the power to help. Now a difficult situation goes from bad to worse.
2nd marriage
After getting divorced, she was single for 20 years while she raised 3 kids on her own. Now, at age 70, she’s met someone and married him. She sold her house and her furniture to move into his house. After a few very happy years, she’s shocked to find him dead of a heart attack. She’s even more shocked when his kids demand that she move out of the house and threaten legal action is she doesn’t. Now she is left with finding a new place to live, buying new furniture and trying to restart her life. He had promised to take care of her, but he never took the legal steps necessary to do that.
These stories are based on the real life stories of clients we help every day! And we would much rather help people on the front end of planning and avoid all the heartache that happens if planning isn’t done properly ahead of time. If you’re a woman concerned about your future, please call us at 217-726-9200 today or plan to attend an upcoming workshop. We’re here to help, and planning is ALL we do!