As a Millennial and an Elder Law attorney, one thing that I never understood or agreed with was the term “Elder Law.” This is because you do not need to be “elder” to need my legal advice. In fact, the more proactive you are about planning, the more that I can do for you. It seems “Elder Law” is just an antiquated term that was coined a long time ago that we hold on to in order to distinguish our area of practice.
USLegal.com defines Elder Law as “a specialized area of legal practice, covering estate planning, wills, trusts, arrangements for care, social security and retirement benefits, protection against elder abuse (physical, emotional and financial), and other involving older people.” It’s clear that a lot of the Elder Law practice is meant to assist individuals as they age, which actually comprises about 90% of my practice.
But therein lies the problem, EVERYONE needs some form of estate planning. Millennials (people born between 1982 and 2000) represent approximately one-quarter (25%) of the population. If you remove Generation Z from the equation because they are under 18, this number jumps to approximately 31%. Yet, Millennials are a very small fragment of my practice. This fact is true of every elder law firm that I have reached out to.
Why is that? My belief is that this is because of the stigma that is attached to Elder Law, which starts with the word “elder”. A lot of people see estate planning as planning for death or old age. Many of my clients and their family members tell me that they have not created estate planning documents because doing so is admitting that you are getting old and planning to give up control of your own life and decisions. I tell my clients that Estate Planning is not planning to die, but planning for quality of life, especially in the case of a tragedy.
These documents are an insurance policy. Without health insurance or life insurance, people would not live their lives to the fullest for fear of the costs of an accident. Estate Planning documents should be viewed in the same light. A Power of Attorney and Health Care Proxy ensure that someone can step into your shoes should you lose decision-making capabilities. A Last Will and Testament allows you to control how your assets are divided at death. Not having these documents can make things extremely difficult for your loved ones down the road.
At Hynes Law Group, our goal is to form relationships for life. We are committed to making sure that people of all stages and ages engage in planning. As such, we offer a discounted rate to Millennials who want to create an estate plan but fear the costs of an attorney. To schedule a free 15-20 minute consult to determine if these documents are right for you, please fill out the “contact us” form at http://www.hyneselderlaw.com/contact-us/ and type “Millennial” to utilize this free offer.