Heard my sister's kid ask what would happen to their savings account if she died and it hit different

Last weekend I overheard my 12 year old nephew ask my sister what would happen to the $800 in his savings account if she passed away. She brushed it off like it was nothing, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I had a similar talk with my own parents after my uncle died without a will and it took his family 9 months to get access to his bank accounts. That kind of silence from parents just leaves kids scared and guessing. I sat my sister down the next day and we talked about naming beneficiaries and having a simple written plan. Has anyone else had their kids or niblings bring up money stuff like that out of nowhere? How did you handle it?

2 comments

2 Comments

john_murphy2d ago

Totally had the same thing happen with my niece last year. She asked my brother if we'd still go to Disney if he died and it hit me right in the gut. We ended up having a whole family meeting about wills and stuff and honestly the kids were way more relieved after.

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ross.sean2d ago

Huh that's interesting, I gotta say I see it a little different though. Maybe it's just me but I feel like kids that age don't really need the full weight of estate planning thrown on them. They're already scared and confused and now they're sitting in a meeting about wills and life insurance and that's a lot for a little brain to process. Not saying you're wrong for doing it, every family is different, but I wonder if sometimes we think kids need more info than they actually do. Like maybe just a simple "yes we'd still go to Disney" would have been enough without turning it into a whole family finance meeting.