Estate planning is typically discussed in the context of spouses and children—even as a growing number of Americans are single or child-free. This group may feel excluded from the world of financial planning advice, which typically assumes the existence of a close familial heir or two who will not only inherit assets, but also act as executors and medical points-of-contact.
Jenny Xia Spradling, co-CEO of FreeWill, a free estate-planning tool that emphasizes charitable giving, hopes child-free and unmarried people don’t feel discouraged. In fact, it can be “even more important” for them to have a basic estate plan, she says. Otherwise, assets will be distributed based on your state’s intestacy laws—which could mean they go to distant relatives or, much more rarely, the government itself.
