Protecting You, Your Family, And The Life You Worked Hard To Build

Protect your children with your estate plan

On Behalf of | Jun 30, 2022 | Estate Planning |

As you get older and begin working on your estate plan, one thing to do is to focus on protecting your children through your decisions. There are two important parts of your estate plan that you need to address your children in: Your gift planning decisions and your guardianship selections.

Addressing how to provide for your children now will help you feel more comfortable in the case that you are severely injured and can no longer care for them or if you unexpectedly pass away.

Support your children with trusts

When you have minor children, it is reasonable to set up trusts for them in the case that you pass away. Doing this could help your life insurance or other assets pass to them in due time, allowing them to have the support they need throughout different times in their lives.

For example, you could set up your life insurance to pay into a trust. Then, you could set up the trust to pay out half when your child finishes college and another half when they are fully employed for a certain length of time.

The nice thing about trusts is that you can set the rules for the payouts, so your children get the assets or income at the appropriate times in their lives.

Find the right guardians to raise your children

If your children have another legal parent who can provide for them, that person will have custody if you pass away unless their rights have been restricted or terminated. If they also pass away or are not able to parent the children, you need to have guardianships in place to help protect your children and keep them out of foster care.

Deciding on a guardian isn’t always easy, but you should remember to select at least one person who has the stability needed to raise children. This person might be a parent, your friend, or a family member.

Your estate plan can help your children if you’re incapacitated or pass away

Estate planning can help you be sure your children will be cared for if you pass away or are incapacitated. Plan now, so you know your children will be in good hands.