Why Life Planning
instead of Estate Planning?
Life Planning can be used to mean:
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Life Planning (planning for your life events and the legal and other problems they might cause)
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Death Planning (planning for what happens to your possessions when you pass)
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Legacy Planning (planning for all of the legacy you’ll eventually leave behind, not just your things)
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Any 2, or all 3, of the above
Estate Planning can be used in the same way. Most people still call it Estate Planning. We use Life Planning. Why? Because there’s a problem with Estate Planning. It originally meant “planning to leave an estate at death.”
So most people – and this includes many professional planners – still think of it as only Death Planning. They limit their usage and understanding of Estate Planning to Death Planning. As a result, they tend to limit their planning efforts to Death Planning only. That, in turn, can lead to inadequate plans which can then spell disaster for the clients and their loved ones.
Life Planning doesn’t have the same limitation Estate Planning does. Life Planning (that is, literally, planning for life events) is both a newer activity and a newer name than Estate Planning. Just as death is a part of life, so too, Death Planning is a properly a part of Life Planning. The same goes for Legacy Planning.
So we use Life Planning because it is less limiting and broader than Estate Planning. We encourage you and everyone else to use Life Planning as well.
Benjamin Bekel
Attorney at Law
Ben graduated from the University of Iowa and received his Juris Doctor at Drake University Law School excelling in classes pertaining to elder law and estate planning. Ben assumed ownership of Quad City LIfe Planning in November 2019. Ben is licensed to practice before state courts in both Iowa and Illinois as well as the federal courts of the Southern District of Iowa and the Central District of Illinois. Ben was raised in Muscatine, Iowa and is an avid Hawkeyes fan. In addition to helping individuals and families with estate planning, elder law, and probate needs, Ben is experienced in guiding clients through real estate transactions.
