Profiles of Individuals with Estate Planning Documents

The challenge to lawyers, financial practitioners, educators, and counselors is to convince the public of the need for estate planning at alI ages, not just the elderly. In this research study, more than 50 percent of the respondents did not have a living trust or a letter of instruction. This was a sample of middle aged to older persons, a population subset that should be more aware of estate planning than a younger population. Furthermore, only 58 percent had a living will and 51 percent had a durable power of attorney for health care. Health issues do not strike only when one is older, and practitioners can use all information that contributes to increased knowledge in the field of attitudes and influences on estate planning to help target these areas of prospective clientele.