Estate Planning Advice for Seniors

If you’re a senior and you have yet to write your will, you should do so as soon as possible. It is common that will contests arise when the testator was elderly and sick at the time of will execution.  This is because in order to be a validly executed will, the testator must have had the capacity to execute the will. Many testamentary capacity will contests have same basic set of facts involving a person who had a terminal illness at the time of will execution. The same phenomenon occurs even when the illness is not related to the brain. Another basis for many will contests is “undue influence.” “Undue influence” means that someone coerced the testator and undermined the testator’s desires. Some of the factors that are considered in undue influence challenges are age, weakness and illness. You should think about these issues because the best offense is a good defense. You should prevent the possibility of someone contesting your will by executing it long before your last hour.

Another interesting thing to think about as we age is the famous jurist Jeremy Bentham’s proposition for why we allow inheritance in the first place. Bentham’s idea is called the “exchange theory.” The notion is that as we grow older, others will have to take care of us, and inheritance provides an incentive for people to do that. Of course, we all hope that our loved ones will care for us out of the goodness of their hearts, but this is still something to consider.