Trust Talk Tuesday: “I Don’t Have an Estate, So I Don’t Need a Plan… Right?”
When “I’ll Get to It Later” Turns Into a Legal Nightmare for Your Family
You don’t own a yacht.
You’re not sipping cocktails on a trust fund.
So obviously, estate planning doesn’t apply to you… right?
Wrong.
Estate planning isn’t just for the rich—it’s for the responsible.
And if you have a bank account, a car, a child, or a pulse?
You need one.
💥 The Myth of “Nothing to Plan”
Here’s what we hear all the time:
🗣️ “Everything will just go to my spouse.”
🗣️ “My kids will figure it out.”
🗣️ “I’m too young to worry about that.”
Spoiler: the court doesn’t care what you meant to happen.
If you didn’t put it in writing? They’ll decide for you.
⚖️ What Actually Happens Without a Plan:
The State Writes One for You
It’s called “intestacy.” And it’s not cute.
No will = your stuff goes where the law says, not where your gut says.
That means:
👎 No say in who raises your kids
👎 No control over who gets what
👎 No peace for your family
🧠 Translation: Your loved ones get grief and a pile of legal bills.
You Leave a Hot Mess Behind
No trust? Your assets go through probate.
And that’s a slow, public, and expensive process where everything becomes a matter of court record—including that one weird debt you never told anyone about.
Also: family feuds, lost time, and the potential for everyone to walk away pissed.
You Screw Over the People You Love
That spouse you didn’t legally protect?
That kid who’s still a minor?
That sibling who’s suddenly in charge of unplugging the WiFi and dealing with your car loan?
They’re now dealing with courts, creditors, and chaos—because you didn’t want to fill out some paperwork.
🧃 “But I Don’t Have That Much!”
Great! Then it’s even easier to protect what you do have.
Estate planning is about peace of mind, not portfolio size.
It’s about:
✅ Making sure the right people get the right stuff
✅ Appointing someone you trust to make decisions if you can’t
✅ Preventing your family from fighting over who gets your dog and who gets stuck paying your credit card
🚨 Real Talk From the Estate Planning Trenches:
We’ve seen families go to war over a Buick.
We’ve seen life insurance policies go to exes because nobody updated the beneficiary.
We’ve seen bank accounts frozen for months because someone said “I’ll do it later.”
🛑 Bottom Line:
Estate planning isn’t about death.
It’s about control. It’s about clarity.
It’s about protecting your family when they need it most.
So no, you don’t need a mansion.
You just need a plan.
Newburg Law – Your Family. Your Foundation. Your Future.
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