5 Simple Estate Planning Questions to Ask Yourself when Trying to Plan for Your Child’s Future
As every parent knows, we cannot avoid tough decisions just because they make us uncomfortable. At some point — hopefully many, many years from now — we will die. And when we do, there is a real possibility that our children will still be minors and need someone to care for them. No one can make decisions about your child better than you, which is why you must have a plan in place to protect them and their future.
In my book, Who Gets Your Stuff When You Die, I focus the entirety of Chapter 8 on stuff to protect your children. Granted, there is a lot to unpack, but if we are only focusing on the basics, start by asking yourself these five simple questions.
1. Who will raise your children and make decisions for them if you cannot?
2. Who will instill in them the values you want passed onto them?
3. Who will provide for them financially or manage a trust if one is set up for them?
4. In many families, spouses may have been married previously. This can affect decisions about guardianship, and extra care may be needed to maintain relationships between siblings and stepparents. Who will handle this? And how?
5. If you are a single parent, a surviving biological parent would likely be named guardian unless proven to be unfit. That person may also be given control over the minor child’s inheritance until the child reaches 18. You can change this if you do not want that parent to have control. But do you have the proper documents in place for such a scenario?
To learn more, read Leigh's full blog post.
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