The Best Estate Planning Metaphor I Found Was on a Hiking Trail

Every morning before I start my run, I cross the same section of trail. Then, about forty-five minutes later, I cross it again on my way back. It's become so familiar that I usually don't give it much thought. But one morning last week, I stopped, pulled out my phone, and took a picture. I remember thinking, There's got to be an estate planning metaphor here. And it turns out there was.

The trail runs through a wet section of the woods. After a rainstorm, the ground becomes muddy and uneven. Without the wooden planks, you'd still be able to get through, but you’d have to pick your way around puddles, search for stable footing, and try not to lose a shoe in the mud. The planks don't stop it from raining or keep the ground from becoming muddy, but they do create a path through it. And that's exactly what good estate planning does.

Estate planning can't eliminate the hardest moments of life but what it can do is make those moments a little less overwhelming. You've already decided who should make medical decisions. Your family knows where to find your account information, insurance policies, and original Will. Rather than debating what you “would have wanted,” they can follow the instructions you intentionally put in place. And instead of facing avoidable legal obstacles created by a lack of planning, they have a clear roadmap to follow. They're still walking through one of the hardest seasons of their lives, but they aren't wandering through the mud.

As an estate planning attorney, I often tell people that one of the greatest gifts you can leave your family is clarity. And that means making difficult decisions in advance so the people you love don't have to make them while they're grieving.

Those wooden planks on the trail won't keep the storm away. But when the rain comes, and eventually, it always does, they help people keep moving forward. That's what I hope every estate plan does for the families I work with.