The legal profession necessarily values logic, objectivity, and predictability above all other factors. There can be no justice if people subject to a legal system can’t predict outcomes by applying the law to the facts. Good lawyers help their clients work through complex issues in a systematic, rational, and logical manner. In that context, it is easy to discount the value of emotion in the decision-making process. But emotions drive many decisions.
Most of my work is related to estate planning. There are two important issues that must be considered before I design an estate plan. The first step is determining what might go wrong. If you can think of a problem related to death or disability, I have probably represented someone who has had it. So, after learning about your family, what you own, and your goals, I can help you identify many of the risks you face.
The second step is figuring out how much you care. That will depend on the likelihood of a problem occurring and the severity if it did occur. It’s not likely that two young spouses will die in a car wreck leaving minor children with no parents. But it would be devastating if that happened. Everyone with minor children cares about that. If you leave your adult daughter a large amount of money outright, there is a good chance that upon her death that money will end up in the hands of her husband rather than your grandchildren. If you don’t care, then I don’t care. But that scenario bothers some people.
If a potentially bad outcome bothers you, then you should explore the possibility of preventing it from occurring. If that issue is nagging at you, it is based, at least in part, on emotion. The question is whether your emotional response is leading you in the right direction. Ben Bergeron is probably best known as the trainer of several CrossFit Games champions. I remember hearing him say that your emotions are holding you back because they are liars. It stuck in my head because I have often thought that many of my clients allowed emotion to improperly guide their decision-making process. I also know that emotions aren’t always liars. Ravi Zacharias recently brought the role of emotions into clearer focus for me. He said that God gave us emotions for a reason. They are not a flaw or a mistake. The problem, Zacharias said, is when our emotions become fabricators of reality rather than indicators of reality. In other words, emotions play a vital role, but become a problem when they become liars.
We have lots of indicators in our lives. Pain, hunger, and sleepiness can all indicate what we need. They can also develop into problems. Love, appreciation, fear, envy, pride, indignation, and disappointment can drive estate planning decisions. They can also cloud your judgment. When you think through the impact that you wish to make on your family and the world, you should listen to your emotions and let them lead you in the right direction. But you must also apply reason to help you decide how to plan.
In most cases, you don’t get to say a problem won’t happen. But you can say that you don’t think it will happen, and you are willing to deal with the consequences if it does. One good way to objectively determine the importance of preventing a problem is whether you are willing to spend money or time to prevent it. If crossing your fingers and hoping for the best is a sufficient precaution, then you don’t really care. I help my clients work through each potential issue and balance the risk with what it takes to prevent it, so we can determine the simplest way to accomplish their goals. If you don’t care about an issue, your estate plan should not address it. But if something keeps you up at night, I want you to leave my office knowing that it has been taken care of.