Many Ohio residents understand that having an estate plan can be helpful to themselves and to their families. However, far too many people continue to put off estate planning because they think that they have not reached a point in their lives where they need to create a plan. This line of thinking is not entirely correct as adults of almost any age can benefit from having a plan.
Individuals who are fresh out of college may be thinking more about landing their dream jobs rather than what they want to happen with their estates. Still, even individuals at this age can benefit from having certain documents in place. What many people do not realize is that once they reach the legal age of adulthood, their parents can no longer make decisions for them, including those relating to their health care or finances.
This may seem like a good thing, but if a young person becomes incapacitated, a parent still has no legal right to make those decisions on behalf of his or her child. As a result, even young adults can benefit from creating power of attorney documents. Some parents may even want to encourage their adult children to take these important steps simply because anything could happen.
It may seem odd for a parent to encourage an adult child to start estate planning. After all, in many cases, it is the adult children encouraging older parents to make their plans. Still, any adult in Ohio could benefit from having a plan in place for those worst-case scenarios.