When "I'll Get Around to It" Becomes Too Late

Colin Barrett
3 days ago
4 min read

There is one phrase I hear more often than almost any other when meeting new clients.

I know I should have sorted this out years ago."

It is usually followed by an apologetic smile and an explanation of why life simply got in the way.

Sometimes they have never made a Will. Sometimes they wrote one decades ago and have never looked at it since. Others have been meaning to arrange Lasting Powers of Attorney but somehow never quite found the right moment.

What has always struck me is that these are rarely disorganised people.

Quite the opposite.

Many have enjoyed successful careers, built businesses, raised families, managed mortgages, cared for elderly parents and navigated all the challenges that life has placed in front of them. They are perfectly capable of making important decisions, yet estate planning has quietly remained on tomorrow's list.

So why does this happen?

The answer has very little to do with Wills, and a great deal to do with human nature.

The Tyranny of the Urgent

Most of us are remarkably good at dealing with problems that demand our immediate attention.

When the boiler stops working, we call an engineer.

When the car needs repairing, we book it into the garage.

When a deadline approaches at work, we somehow find the time to meet it.

Estate planning is different because there is no flashing warning light telling us it needs attention today. There is no immediate consequence if we decide to leave it until next week, next month or after the summer holidays.

The future has an inconvenient habit of arriving before we feel ready for it, but today always feels like there will be plenty of time.

Life Doesn't Stand Still

Think about everything that may have changed over the last ten or fifteen years.

Perhaps you've moved home, welcomed grandchildren into the family, changed career, retired or started your own business. Relationships evolve, financial circumstances change and the responsibilities we carry are rarely the same from one decade to the next.

Yet many people still rely on a Will written when their children were at primary school, or before they owned the family home they now live in.

That doesn't necessarily mean the document is wrong, but it does raise an important question.

Does it still reflect the life you have today?

The Problem With "One Day"

I've often wondered whether the phrase "one day" is responsible for more unfinished jobs than anything else in the English language.

"I'll review my Will one day."

"I'll sort out Powers of Attorney one day."

"I'll make an appointment when things calm down."

The difficulty is that life has an extraordinary ability to fill every available gap with something else. Holidays need organising. Homes need maintaining. Families need our attention. Work has its own demands.

One day quietly becomes another year.

It's Not About Expecting the Worst

Occasionally, someone tells me they don't like thinking about making a Will because it feels as though they're tempting fate.

I understand that feeling, but I don't believe that's what estate planning is about.

We insure our homes because we recognise that accidents happen, not because we expect them to.

We wear seatbelts because we understand risk, not because we plan to have an accident on the way to the supermarket.

Estate planning follows exactly the same principle. It's simply one of the ways we look after the people we care about.

The Real Cost of Waiting

People sometimes assume that delaying estate planning is mainly a financial issue.

In reality, the greatest cost is often uncertainty.

Families left trying to work out what someone would have wanted.

Executors searching for important paperwork.

Business partners unsure who has authority to make decisions.

Children forced to make difficult choices without any guidance.

Most of these situations can be made significantly easier with a little planning undertaken at the right time.

A Better Way to Think About It

Rather than seeing estate planning as a single daunting task, perhaps it's more helpful to think of it as a series of small steps.

Review your existing Will.

Check whether your executors are still appropriate.

Consider whether Lasting Powers of Attorney would benefit you and your family.

Arrange a conversation with a professional if you're unsure where to begin.

You don't have to solve everything in one afternoon. You simply have to begin.

Final Thoughts

One of the greatest privileges of my job is meeting people from every walk of life. Although every family is different, there is one thing they all have in common.

They want to make life easier for the people they love.

That's what estate planning has always been about.

Not expecting the worst.

Not dwelling on difficult possibilities.

Simply recognising that the decisions we make today can remove uncertainty tomorrow.

If you've been meaning to "get around to it", perhaps this is the month to stop meaning to and start doing.