By Ilya Lyubimskiy, JD, CPA | Estate Planning & Probate Attorney and Author of I Wish I Talked to You Sooner
Most people who put off estate planning are not irresponsible.
They are busy.
They may feel too young, believe they do not own enough, assume their family can handle things, or simply think they will get around to it later.
As an estate planning and probate attorney, I hear these explanations all the time. And most of them sound perfectly reasonable until you look a little closer.
Estate planning is not really about predicting when something bad will happen. It is about making a few important decisions while those decisions are still yours to make.
Here are seven common myths that keep people from getting started.
Myth #1: “Estate Planning Is Only for Wealthy People”
This may be the biggest misconception of all.
Estate planning is not only about deciding who receives a large investment portfolio or vacation home.
It also answers much more basic questions.
Who can manage your finances if you become incapacitated?
Who can make healthcare decisions for you?
Who should receive the property you do own?
Who should care for your children?
Who knows where to find your important information?
You do not need to be wealthy for those questions to matter.
As I explain in I Wish I Talked to You Sooner, estate planning is less about wealth than direction. Even a relatively modest estate can create confusion when no one knows who is supposed to act or what the person wanted.
Myth #2: “I’m Too Young to Need an Estate Plan”
Estate planning has somehow acquired an age requirement in people’s minds.
There isn’t one.
You may not need the same plan at 38 that you need at 68. But young adults still have bank accounts, vehicles, digital assets, medical decisions, pets, relationships, and people they care about.
More importantly, estate planning does not only address death.
It also addresses incapacity.
An accident or medical emergency can leave someone temporarily unable to manage finances or make healthcare decisions at any age.
The book emphasizes this point: a functional estate plan should protect you during incapacity as well as provide instructions after death.
Being young may change what kind of estate plan you need.
It does not necessarily mean you need no plan at all.
Myth #3: “My Family Will Figure It Out”
Maybe they will.
But why make them?
Families often say things like: “My kids know what I want.” or “My spouse will take care of everything.” or “Everyone gets along.”
Those things may all be true.
But legal and financial systems do not operate entirely on family understanding and good intentions.
A financial power of attorney, for example, is a legal tool that allows someone you choose to make financial decisions on your behalf.
Without appropriate planning, families may still need to determine who has legal authority, locate assets, work through court procedures, and interpret what you would have wanted.
The goal of an estate plan is not to replace your family.
It is to give them a roadmap.
Myth #4: “I Have a Will, So My Estate Planning Is Done”
Having a will is much better than having no will.
But a will is one piece of an estate plan.
It generally does not manage your finances while you are incapacitated.
It does not make healthcare decisions for you.
It does not automatically control assets with their own beneficiary designations.
And it does not automatically avoid probate.
You may also need powers of attorney, healthcare documents, updated beneficiary designations, appropriate asset titling, or perhaps a trust depending on your circumstances.
That is why I prefer to think about estate planning as a system, rather than a document.
The question is not simply: “Do I have a will?” The better question is: “If something happened to me, would all the pieces of my plan work together?”
Myth #5: “I’m Married, So My Spouse Can Handle Everything”
Marriage provides important legal rights, but it should not be treated as a substitute for estate planning.
Your spouse may inherit certain property or have rights under state law, but that does not mean every account, medical decision, property interest, beneficiary designation, or financial issue automatically works exactly the way you expect.
For example, formal authority may still matter when someone needs to manage another person’s finances. Healthcare authority and access to medical information can also depend on applicable law and the documents in place.
The practical takeaway is simple:
Do not make your spouse figure out whether they have authority during a crisis.
Put the right documents in place beforehand.
Myth #6: “Nothing Is Going to Happen to Me Anytime Soon”
Hopefully, you’re right.
In fact, I hope your estate plan sits untouched for decades.
But that is not really the point.
We buy insurance hoping we never need it.
Estate planning works in much the same way.
The difficult part is that most of us naturally assume our future will look a lot like our present. If we are healthy today, it is easy to believe the serious illness, accident, or incapacity belongs to some distant version of ourselves.
The book describes this as part of the “it won’t happen to me” mindset. Planning is not about expecting disaster; it is about maintaining options if life changes unexpectedly.
You do not create an estate plan because you know something is going to happen.
You create one because you don’t know.
Myth #7: “I’ll Take Care of It Later”
This may be the most dangerous myth because it does not sound like a refusal.
It sounds like a plan.
Later.
After tax season.
After the vacation.
After the kids go back to school.
After the holidays.
After work calms down.
The trouble is that estate planning rarely becomes urgent until something has already happened.
In my practice, I have seen people wait until a diagnosis or family crisis suddenly turned an ordinary planning process into a race against the clock. The book describes the same pattern: people who intended to plan eventually found themselves trying to make complicated decisions under pressure because “later” arrived sooner than expected.
There will almost always be something more urgent on your calendar.
That does not mean it is more important.
You Don’t Need a Perfect Estate Plan to Start
There is another myth hiding underneath many of the others:
“I need to have everything figured out before I meet with someone.”
You don’t.
You do not need to know whether you need a will or a trust.
You do not need to know exactly whom to name in every role.
You do not need to understand probate terminology.
You do not even need to have every answer about what you want.
Part of the planning process is working through those questions.
Many intelligent, responsible people become stuck because estate planning feels unfamiliar and they are afraid of making the wrong decision. The book makes an important point here: planning does not require perfection, and most plans can evolve as your life changes.
Getting started is often the hardest step.
Estate Planning Is Really About Readiness
Estate planning has a branding problem.
People hear the phrase and think about death.
I think it makes more sense to think about readiness.
You are deciding who you trust.
You are giving people legal authority before they need it.
You are putting instructions in writing instead of leaving people to guess.
You are making sure that the things you have worked for go where you intend.
And you are making a difficult day a little easier for someone you love.
That is one of the reasons I wrote I Wish I Talked to You Sooner: How to Avoid the Worst Estate Planning Mistakes. Many of the problems families encounter do not begin with complicated legal mistakes. They begin with ordinary assumptions:
I have plenty of time.
My family knows what I want.
I don’t own enough.
I’ll deal with it later.
Those assumptions feel harmless but later has a nasty way of turning into never before you know it.
You do not need to plan because you expect the worst.
You plan so that if life surprises you, the people you love have more than good intentions to guide them.
Learn more about I Wish I Talked to You Sooner and how to avoid the estate planning mistakes families too often discover when it is already too late.
About the Author
Ilya Lyubimskiy, JD, CPA, is a Colorado estate planning and probate attorney, Certified Public Accountant, and founder of Premier Legacy Law. He is the author of I Wish I Talked to You Sooner: How to Avoid the Worst Estate Planning Mistakes. Through his legal practice, he helps individuals and families navigate estate planning, probate, and trust administration with an emphasis on practical planning and avoiding preventable problems.
