New Year, New Plan: Turning Holiday Conversations Into Estate Planning Action
January has a certain energy to it. The calendar flips, routines restart, and we feel that familiar push to “get things together.” For many people, that includes health goals, financial goals, and the desire to be more organized. But for families, one of the most meaningful—and practical—New Year’s resolutions is also one of the most commonly postponed:
Create an estate plan, or update the one you already have.
If December brought caregiving conversations, a health scare, a new baby, or that shared moment of “we really need to get organized,” January is the perfect time to build on that momentum—before daily life crowds it out again.
Why estate planning belongs on your resolutions list
Most New Year’s resolutions fail for one simple reason: they’re too vague. “Get healthy.” “Be better with money.” “Get organized.” They sound good, but they don’t translate into a first step.
Estate planning works differently. It becomes easier once you break it into small, concrete decisions. And the payoff is significant: less uncertainty, more control, and a plan that helps the people you love during stressful times.
Whether you have no plan at all or you created one years ago, this is a great month to ask:
If something happened to me this year, would my loved ones have clear instructions?
Would the right people be empowered to help?
Is my plan aligned with my current life and relationships?
Four common “December moments” that deserve January follow-through
1. Caring for aging parents
Holiday gatherings often highlight how much has changed for older loved ones—mobility issues, memory changes, new medications, or simply the reality that they need more support.
January is a good time to consider two tracks of planning:
Your parents’ planning: Do they have updated powers of attorney and health care directives? Do you know where their documents are? Does the person they named years ago still make sense today?
Your planning as the caregiver: If you’re the one coordinating care, your own estate plan becomes even more important. Caregiving can strain time and finances. If you became ill unexpectedly, who would step in to help your family?
2. A health scare (yours or someone else’s)
A health scare doesn’t have to be dramatic to be clarifying. Sometimes it’s a diagnosis, a hospitalization, or even a wake-up call from a friend’s experience.
In estate planning, the “health scare moment” often leads to two important decisions:
Who can make medical decisions if you can’t? (Advance Health Care Directive)
Who can handle finances and legal matters if you’re temporarily unable? (Power of Attorney)
Those documents matter even if you’re young, healthy, and not “wealthy.” They are about decision-making, not just money.
3. “We need to get organized”
This is one of the most common themes we hear after the holidays. Organization doesn’t require perfection—it requires a system.
A strong estate plan is part of that system because it creates a home base for:
What you own
Who should receive it
Who should be in charge
What guidance you want to leave behind
And it forces a simple but powerful question: Would the people you love know what to do, and where to start?
4. A newborn baby (or a new child in the family)
A new baby is joyful—and it changes everything. It often motivates parents to move from “we should do this someday” to “we should do this now.”
For parents, estate planning typically focuses on:
Guardianship: Who would raise your child if you couldn’t?
Financial structure: How should assets be managed for a child, and at what ages?
Decision-makers: Who would handle financial and medical decisions if you’re incapacitated?
Even if you already have an estate plan, a new child is a classic reason to review and update it.
A January checklist that makes estate planning doable
If you’re motivated but overwhelmed, start here. These are the building blocks that apply to most families:
Pick the right decision-makers
Choose who would act for you for financial/legal matters and for health care. Confirm they’re willing.Make a simple asset snapshot
List your home, bank accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance, business interests, and anything else significant. You don’t need exact values—just the categories.Review beneficiaries
Many assets pass by beneficiary designation, not by your trust or will (like retirement accounts and life insurance). Outdated beneficiaries are one of the most common—and avoidable—problems.If you have kids, revisit guardianship and timing
Guardianship decisions and how children inherit are not “set it and forget it” choices.Name what matters most
Write down the top people you want to protect and any causes you want to support. These priorities often shape the plan more than legal jargon ever will.
How to continue December conversations without it feeling heavy
If estate planning came up over the holidays and then got dropped, a gentle January restart can be as simple as:
“I’ve been thinking about what we talked about in December. I’d like to get more organized this month.”
“If something happened, I want you to know you wouldn’t be stuck guessing.”
“Can we pick a time to talk through the basics—who we’d choose, where documents would be, and what we’d want?”
You don’t need a long, emotional conversation. You just need a next step.
Make this the year you follow through
If you don’t have an estate plan yet, January is a great time to start. And if you already have one, this is the perfect season for a check-up—especially if you’ve experienced caregiving responsibilities, health concerns, a new baby, or simply the desire to feel more organized going into the new year.
If you’d like help, Shafae Law offers a 30-minute consultation or estate plan check-up call to help you identify what you need, what you can improve, and what your next best step should be.
Here’s to a new year with more clarity, more preparedness, and more peace of mind.