Reflections on estate planning

Please allow me to break a brief break from the mini-series I'm currently doing on this blog about some common complaints we often hear from smaller churches.  Today is my birthday.  I turned 65 today.  Thirty-two of those years have been as a minister.  For the first twenty years I was the bivocational pastor of Hebron Baptist Church near Madison, Indiana, and for the past twelve years I've been a Resource Minister with the American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky.  There have been many times I've wondered why God called me into the ministry, but I am thankful he did.  It has been one of the most rewarding things I've ever done.  It has afforded me opportunities this old farm boy could never have imagined while growing up on a dairy farm in southeastern Indiana.

Earlier this week I began reading Billy Graham's newest book Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well as part of my devotional reading.  I didn't pick it up because of my birthday today, but perhaps subconsciously I thought I was time to read it!  Like his other books, I have not been disappointed.  In today's reading he encourages his readers to prepare for the inevitable death that will come to each of us.  Until the rapture occurs the math is simple, there will be one death for every birth. One of the greatest acts of love we can give our families is to ensure that things have been prepared before that occurs.

Several years ago a family member passed away.  His will named me as the executor of his estate.  He never said anything about that until about three weeks before his passing, and he never told me anything about his estate.  The day after he told me I was the executor he went into the hospital where he stayed until his passing.  We never had a chance to talk about his estate.  I literally had to go through every piece of paper in his desk, both at home and at his business, to see what was involved in the estate.  Fortunately, he had left a will directing how he wanted things divided.  It was a very difficult time, both emotionally and physically, trying to ensure that I had located everything that was needed to settle his estate. 

My wife and I had talked for a few years about getting a will, and shortly after closing his estate, we did just that.  I could not have imagined how much more difficult it would have been to execute his estate if he had not left a will, and I did not want to put my family through that.  Earlier this year, due to some changes in our lives, we returned to the attorney's office and created a new will to make sure it properly reflected our current situation.  My wife and I are now having conversations about our funeral preferences and will be going to a funeral home soon to do our pre-planning.

Doing these things will not make us die sooner.  We are both in reasonably good health with some of the common conditions that often occur when one gets older.  We do these things because we love one another and do not want the other to have to make such decisions during times of grief.  Such conversations are not especially pleasant, but neither is having to make these decisions after someone passes. 

It may be that you are still a young person and thinking that you are years away from needing to make out a will and having end-of-life discussions, but that is simply not true.  Death comes to people at all ages.  Who would care for your children if both parents suddenly passed away?  What would become of your property?  Would any of your money be left to a ministry or charity?  Where would you be buried?  Without a will and estate planning someone else will make those decisions for you, and their decisions may not be what you would have wanted.

I love my family too much to force them to make those decisions when I pass away, and I imagine you feel the same way.  Estate planning doesn't take a large amount of time and is very inexpensive especially when considers the peace of mind that it brings.  Love one another enough to have those conversations and get your final wishes on paper.  Now, excuse me while I grab another piece of cake.