Professor Tex Dutile was my Criminal Law professor my first semester at Notre Dame. Every Friday morning before a football weekend he would ask us, show of hands, who we thought would win. “With your head, not your heart!” he’d add, with his Boston accent. (I’ve tried for years to perfect the “hahhhrt” part of this, without success.) Every week, 100% of us raised our hands for Notre Dame to win. This was 2006 which, unlike the following two years, allowed us to vote with both our heads and our hearts.
What does this have to do with me and my boutique law practice? Well, because estate planning is one of those areas of law that combines HEAD and HEART decisions. Allow me to explain:
The first step is your HEAD: nobody wants to think about dying, or leaving your loved ones behind (especially young loved ones). It’s a rational decision, though, to work through the what-ifs and come up with a plan that will bring you peace. I’ve spent a bit of time thinking about why fewer than half of adult Americans have a Will, and I think our busy calendars are a major reason. I get that.
Next up is your HEART–another reason we avoid getting our affairs in order? We don’t want to work through the hard conversations of who might step in and take care of our kids, or us as we age. The good news is that talking through hard conversations with our loved ones only brings us closer together and brings peace. We can’t control every aspect of the future but we can make our wishes known and make sure our family is set up to be taken care of. And as Dr. John Deloney puts it, since 100% of us will die we absolutely just have to get this done. He even goes a step further and points out that we all actually crave these deep conversations.
Finally, back to the HEAD–the long, wordy legal documents that make sure your heartfelt wishes actually get put down on paper. This is my favorite part! I love being able to take on this task for people and help busy families cross this one big thing off their to-do list.
Life is full of decisions that combine your HEAD and your HEART: whether to move away to go to your top choice for school, add another baby to the family, buy your dream home…sometimes it feels like our heads and hearts are at odds with each other. Luckily for us, when it comes to getting our affairs in order they both get a chance to chime in.
Ready for step one? I’d love to walk through this with you! Get started by scheduling a consultation.
PS: Notre Dame finished with 10 wins and 3 losses in 2006 and went to the Sugar Bowl.