3 questions to ask your parents about their estate plan — other than ‘How much money do you have?’

3 questions to ask your parents about their estate plan — other than ‘How much money do you have?’ 3 questions to ask your parents about their estate plan — other than ‘How much money do you have?’ These questions can jump-start a conversation about estate planning, even if your parents don’t want to talk about it “Estate planning is not really about death. It is about making life easier for your family if something unexpected happens,” said financial planner Eric Wiegand. Most Americans dream of building up a large net worth, yet few think about what might become of their hard-earned wealth if anything unexpected were to happen to them.

Fidelity found that about one-third of people ages 55 and older have never had open conversations about estate planning with their adult children. Among these parents, the main barrier was not knowing how to start. Copyright ©2026 MarketWatch, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8 ‘I don’t begrudge them their money’: My husband and I have friends who spend, spend, spend. McDonald's, Alphabet Inc. Cl A share losses contribute to Dow's 289-point drop How to avoid the ‘widow tax’ and other financial headaches if your spouse dies Musk praises China’s leadership and pushes for AI regulation ahead of state dinner Venessa Wong is a personal finance reporter for MarketWatch based in New York City.

She writes about family finances, young investors and wealth building. Venessa previously worked at BuzzFeed News and Bloomberg, and is a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School and Middlebury College. Intraday Data provided by FACTSET and subject to terms of use.

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