Plan for the unexpected in everything you do. I am sitting right now at my house, built in 1878, watching two guys install a new TV on the wall of my home office. They thought it was going to be easy, until they found out that old houses have different construction in the walls that make it take many more hours to wire the TV than they originally thought. How does this apply to estate planning? Well, clients always ask me why is a certain provision or word in a document. The answer is that the provision or word may never be necessary, but if the right set of circumstances occur, that provision or word can make the difference between a successful estate plan and one that is a failure. Moreover, one of the most difficult part of my profession is trying to get clients to act. They sometimes say to me: ”Why do I have to do this now? Why can’t I do this next week, next year, when I move, when I retire, etc.?” My response is basically that you never know when something bad will happen and being prepared is the best insurance you can have.
The two guys are still working on the TV... I am confident that they will get it to work and look right. It will just take the time and effort required.