How Can I Protect My Children in Estate Planning?
Many of our clients have concerns related to their children when planning estates. Concerns can range from making sure they are taken care of financially, choosing appropriate guardians, and more.
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Some of our clients biggest concerns are:
- I don’t want my child to blow all the money they inherit right away. We always tell clients the best way to ruin a great kid is by giving them tons of money. We work with clients to put a plan in place to help their children. One way we do this is to stagger their disbursements from a trust at certain ages. We usually allow the child to ask the trustee for money at any time for certain purposes. For example, if a child wanted money to pay for college, they would usually be able to get money from the trust for educational expenses. We work with our clients to alleviate their concerns regarding each of their children.
- I want to make sure my child will be cared for if something happens to me. This is almost always the primary concern of parents of young children. It is essential to draft documents and choose who would be the guardian of minor children, should something happen to the parents. We help our clients walk through this process to make sure they are comfortable with the language and guardians. We also help clients set up documents to keep assets in trust for minor children, should something happen to parents.
- I want to make sure my children will be taken care of if I die and my partner remarries. While this situation can be difficult to navigate, it is very important to consider and discuss while both parents are alive and well. Draft documents now so that you and your spouse know the plan and have documents in place to protect the children, should a parent retire after the death of a spouse.
- My children are no longer minors, but I want to be able to participate in their healthcare decisions if something happens to them. This is a major concern of parents with children away at college. As soon as your children turn 18, it is important to draft healthcare powers of attorney and even financial documents so that parents can still be aware of and involved in their care, should the child become injured or incapacitated.
- I want to make sure that my child is still able to do the things that are important to us, if something happens to me. For example, a client takes her child on vacation every year to the same location. If something happened to her, she wanted the appointed guardian to still take her child to their vacation spot each year. We were able to put language in her trust regarding the vacation and discuss this wish with her trustee. We also helped her draft a letter with helpful instructions.
Our clients all have unique concerns regarding their children. We help them tailor their estate plans to protect their children and protect against the concerns they have.
Estate planning requires thoughtful drafting to meet the needs of each individual.
Contact us today to help you get the right documents in place or to update your current estate plan. We will plan so that you don’t have to worry about your future.
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