Most people we meet didn’t avoid estate planning because they didn’t care. They avoided it because of something they believed about it — something that turned out, on closer look, to be a myth.

Here are some of the most common ones we hear, along with what we wish more families understood instead.

Myth 1: “I’m Not Wealthy Enough to Need Estate Planning.”

This is far and away the most common reason people give for not having a plan, and it’s also one of the most misleading.

Estate planning isn’t about avoiding estate taxes for the ultra-wealthy. For most families, it’s about something much more practical: making sure your loved ones aren’t left guessing during a difficult time, ensuring decisions about your care reflect your wishes, naming a guardian for your minor children, and sparing your family unnecessary court proceedings. None of that has anything to do with how much money you have. It has to do with how much you love the people in your life.

Myth 2: “I’m Too Young to Worry About This.”

Estate planning is often associated with older adults, but the truth is, the most painful estate situations we encounter often involve people who were nowhere near retirement. A car accident, a sudden illness, an unexpected diagnosis — these don’t check anyone’s age.

If you’re an adult — especially one with a spouse, children, or any meaningful assets — you’re old enough to benefit from at least basic planning.

Myth 3: “My Family Will Just Work It Out.”

This one is often said with genuine confidence, and we understand why. Families want to believe the best about one another. But here’s what we’ve seen across many years of helping families through these moments: even close, loving families struggle when there’s no clear plan. Grief amplifies tension. Money complicates things. Old dynamics resurface. People disagree honestly about what their loved one would have wanted.

A clear plan isn’t a sign you don’t trust your family. It’s a way of protecting the relationships you value most.

Myth 4: “My Spouse Will Automatically Inherit Everything.”

This assumption surprises people more than almost any other on this list. Depending on your circumstances — especially if you have children from a prior marriage or significant separate property — the default rules may distribute your estate in ways you wouldn’t expect. A surviving spouse may share an inheritance with children, parents, or other relatives, often in proportions the deceased never would have chosen.

If you want your spouse to be fully provided for, you need a plan that says so.

Myth 5: “A Will Avoids Probate.”

This one comes up constantly. A will is a critically important document — but having one doesn’t mean your estate skips the court process. In fact, a will is the document the probate court uses to administer your estate. Avoiding probate, when that’s a goal, generally requires additional planning tools beyond a will alone.

That doesn’t mean a will isn’t worth having. It absolutely is. It just means a will, by itself, isn’t the full picture.

Myth 6: “Online Forms Are Just as Good.”

Online will kits have made the basics more accessible, which has some real benefits. But they also create a false sense of completeness. A do-it-yourself document doesn’t walk you through which assets actually pass under a will and which don’t. It doesn’t catch out-of-date beneficiary designations. It doesn’t plan for incapacity. It doesn’t spot the situations where a more sophisticated tool would have made an enormous difference.

The most expensive estate plan is usually the one that looked cheap at the time but didn’t do what the family thought it would.

Myth 7: “I’ll Get Around to It Eventually.”

The hardest part of estate planning is starting. Once families take that first step — even just an initial conversation — the rest tends to move much more easily than they expected. We’ve never had a client tell us they wished they’d waited longer to put a plan in place. We’ve heard the opposite many times.

It matters who you work with. Our attorneys hold advanced LL.M. degrees in estate planning and elder law and have helped over 600 Middle Tennessee families establish their legacy.

If any of the myths above have been holding you back, we’d be glad to help you take that next step. A short conversation is often all it takes to see how straightforward thoughtful planning can be.