When you’re young, estate planning is often the very furthest thing from your mind. But life can hold some unpleasant surprises. When you have children, you have every reason to believe you’ll be around to see them graduate from college, marry, and have families of their own. Part of making that dream a reality is putting safeguards in place should you encounter roadblocks along the way. If you have a child with special needs, the need for planning is even more pressing.
This plan begins with naming legal Guardians to raise your children if anything happens to you. But, that’s just the beginning. Your Will can also provide detailed instructions about things like health care, education, discipline and your values, so your children are raised the way you want. And if your children are under the age of 18, you might also want to consider adding a trust for them. As you are probably aware, minors cannot hold property. If a minor inherits property, typically a Guardian is appointed to hold that property until the child reaches age 18. Guardianship appointments without the benefit of a Will in place are expensive and time consuming. Furthermore, many parents would prefer that their children not receive a lump sum of money at a young age. The most common way to handle this situation is to provide in your Will that any assets that would otherwise go to a person under the age specified in your documents instead be held in trust for the benefit of that person.
A Will is a document that can grow as you and your family grows. Decisions made now will probably change over the years. Making those changes, in general, is very easy. What is not easy is watching the Courts make decisions after the death of a parent who chooses not to leave their wishes in written form. A couple has a house with a mortgage, a life insurance policy, retirement accounts, savings, websites, businesses, heirlooms and two minor children. Do they need to do estate planning? Yes, they certainly do.
Where, Who, What and When of Estate Planning.
1. Where will your children live if something happens to you and your spouse?
2. Who do you want to receive your things (Cash, tangible personal or virtual property)?
3. What things are your family going to receive?
4. When would you like your family to receive those things? Do you want your children receiving everything at 18 years of age?
And once you have answered those questions it might be a good idea to think about a fifth “W”: Wondering…I wonder what would happen if you or your spouse suffers a temporary incapacity? What types of legal documents can be drafted now so that you can stand in each other’s shoes to make medical or financial decisions with ease?