Spotlight on Philanthropy

Conquer Your Estate Plans

If you don’t have a current will, you’re in good company: A majority of American adults do not have a will or current estate plans. The seven most common reasons are:

UMB and the University of Maryland, College Park co-hosted the 2021 Virtual Wills Week Conference on Oct. 22.
UMB and the University of Maryland, College Park co-hosted the 2021 Virtual Wills Week Conference on Oct. 22.
  1. Haven’t gotten around to it
  2. Not enough assets to leave to anyone
  3. Too expensive
  4. Don’t know how
  5. Don’t have anyone to leave assets to
  6. Takes too long
  7. Rather not think about it

A common misconception is that you need to have a lot of money or a complex situation to have an estate plan, when in fact everyone who has a family or owns assets probably needs a plan.

To help University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) employees, alumni, and friends overcome the seven barriers to estate planning, the University of Maryland Virtual Wills Week Conference was held Oct. 22, 2021, providing free, high-quality presentations with the goal of getting participants started in their own estate planning. The presentations included the subjects of estate planning, wills and probate, life insurance, and Medicare and Medicaid planning.

Hosted jointly by the planned giving offices at UMB and the University of Maryland, College Park, the conference aimed to help attendees start or work on estate plans.

“In the planned giving offices, we see a lot of completed estate documents, but only the successfully executed ones that include gifts to our organizations,” said E. John McKee, MA, acting associate vice president, Office of Philanthropy, and director of planned giving, UMB. “We are tuned into the obstacles people face around estate planning decisions, and we understand that as critical as estate planning may be, it is unpleasant and rarely urgent and thus easy to put off until another day.”

McKee hopes that those who attended can find what they need to overcome whatever holds back estate planning decisions and actions. Learn more about Wills Week at www.umaryland.edu/umbf/planned-giving/wills-week/.

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UMB Staff