2024 will already go down in my life history book as a year of HIGH highs, LOW lows, and BIG things checked off my list.
This is not the best pic ever but it is the photo of a victorious finish line pic when it comes to OUR ESTATE PLANNING, an item that has been on my Big Yearly List for a number of years now.
Signed!
Sealed!
Delivered (to my email inbox in PDF form)!
Okay fine there are still a few nagging tasks left but the attorney told us today that while they will make things more streamlined, they will not prevent the basic intent of our planning from going into effect. So while I plan on finishing those tasks (mostly changing beneficiaries of some accounts etc) I will consider this task complete.
Key Take Aways from Completing This Task
1- I stand by my position that just because a task has rolled over for a few years DOES NOT mean it will never get done or that the goal setting process has “failed” me in some way. I do not regret placing this goal on prior years’ lists, nor do I feel bad about not getting it done until now. I had identified it as a priority, and yet it took some time before we were able to get it done. That’s totally acceptable – and now it’s done!
2- The key element in finishing this task was creating a deadline. (And, hiring experts!). The “experts” part seems fairly obvious when it comes to estate planning, I was never trying to DIY this task. But what I had failed to do was set up a clear deadline for the various decisions to be made, some of which are emotionally complex and therefore . . . not a lot of fun!
Earlier this year, I emailed our attorney and asked for us to have a meeting where we could set a timeline, and then we set another meeting up for us to give her all of our answers. Today’s appointment was also scheduled fairly far out as it involved a drive to the law office to sign things (and uh, the office was in Miami because we started this process when we still lived in Miami Beach, ha!). But all of these things had to be calendared in firmly. We were never going to just “feel like” making these decisions.
3- Accountability probably helped too!!! I remember writing this post and it kind of lit a fire. Now 3/4 of these are pretty much dealt with (my house remains filled with way too many disorganized things; 2024 is just NOT going to be the year for dealing with that, and that’s ok!).
So, THANK YOU and I hope anyone that has a frustrating lingering project will maybe get some inspiration here, or perhaps feel more hopeful that just because it isn’t done the first time it’s on your list doesn’t mean it won’t ever get done at all. The things that are important to you will roll over and you will figure out a way!
(Which means that SOME DAY, I might not own 14 unidentified charging cables and G will have a drawer that contains more matching than mismatched socks. 2025? 2026? We will see!)
6 Comments
Hooray! Congrats. What a great feeling for this to be done. And gives me hope for my unfinished tasks (including my estate planning! Ha!)
Woohoo! I’m so proud of you, it’s a relief to have it done.
Do 7 year olds need matching socks? I’m not so sure…
Estate planning is such a pain! We did ours two years ago and I forced my parents to do that and a POA last year which… honestly I expect I’ll have to go to probate no matter what (getting my father to do anything is not easy and I expect he will blow off retitling the accounts even if I nag him constantly), but I really needed them to agree to the POA. Congrats on getting this done!
thank you!!! Good point to ask about my parents. I am pretty sure they are totally done and organized about it BUT I haven’t really delved in in-depth or asked recently!
Congrats for getting this item off your to do list! It’s a big one and nice to have behind you. We did it back in 2018 when we had our first child and then updated it in 2020. The update process was very easy – it’s the initial setting up of things that can be more overwhelming and emotional for some. But yay – you did it!!
Congratulations!!! This is HUGE! So happy for you!!
This is also a 2024 goal for me/us and we are at the stage where I have to make one final decision and then we can go sign our documents—so I think/hope this will be concluded in December. It will be such a relief!
Have been out sick the last two weeks (finally went to the dr and ended up needing a z pack for sinus infection & bronchitis, good times) so I haven’t been commenting (or running, or doing much of anything apart from daily survival mode requirements!) but I have been reading. I’m so happy BLP Live was a success, that you’re done with call for 2024, and am rooting for you in the final push of marathon training. You’re got this!