October is a popular month for couples to tie the knot in the United States. While wedding planning most often includes tuxedos, dresses, rehearsal dinners, and guest lists, an often overlooked part of pending nuptials is estate planning.

For young couples beginning a life together and getting married for the first time, estate planning may not be a terribly complicated endeavor. With minimal property and savings, simple wills, financial powers of attorney, and healthcare directives may be sufficient planning for the first years of marriage.

The age at which couples are getting married for the first time continues to creep upward, however. It is therefore common for individuals to accumulate significant amounts of property, savings, and investments during their single years. When couples with property beyond the most simple items marry, estate planning becomes much more urgent. It is even more crucial when children are born into the marriage or when entering a second or third marriage.

Conversations with family, friends, and colleagues can sometimes wander into the topic of lawsuits, divorces, bankruptcies, and other threats that put one’s property at risk of loss to a creditor. Such conversations often leave people shaking their heads, asking what the world is coming to, and feeling vulnerable and frustrated. However, an important tool has become increasingly available to even those of modest means to protect their property from such threats at a reasonable cost and with relatively few hoops to jump through.

COVID-19 has deeply impacted the economy in the United States and will likely continue to do so for some time. While most would agree that this pandemic is not a positive development, there are nevertheless some silver linings. One such silver lining is that certain powerful estate planning strategies have become much more attractive and feasible based on the current low interest rate environment. If you have a relatively large estate (over $10 million individually or $20 million as a married couple), you may want to talk with your estate planning attorney about the following planning strategies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to volatile markets, and your retirement account may have a much smaller balance than only a few short months ago. In response to the economic fallout stemming from the pandemic, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which was signed into law on March 27, 2020. The CARES Act was primarily aimed at providing quick and substantial relief to individuals and businesses affected by the economic shutdown in response to the spread of COVID-19. Several of the relief measures can provide significant peace of mind, as they provide you with the option to access some of the funds in your retirement accounts without the usual penalties if you have been negatively affected by COVID-19. In addition, the new legislation contains other provisions that may lower your tax bill for 2020.

Many scientific studies have established that there is a wide range of benefits flowing from a positive attitude and positive thinking. At a time when many are focused on worst-case scenarios and gloomy predictions, you can resist the pull of negativity and embrace the beneficial results of positivity. This is not just an attempt to make yourself feel better in spite of reality, but rather to take full advantage of the proven benefits of positivity. You can increase not only your own wellbeing but also that of your children or other beneficiaries by creating an estate plan designed to promote their happiness, which in turn, will enable them to live healthier and more successful lives. Fortunately, if you are someone for whom it does not come naturally, positive thinking can be learned by surrounding yourself with positive people, deliberately engaging in positive self-talk, and living a healthy lifestyle, just to name a few common methods.