Having a new family is a big undertaking that requires you to make many decisions. One of these is that you need to plan for your child’s future. When you have a baby, you should set up an estate plan that outlines care for the child if something happens to both you and their other parent.
Your estate plan has to go beyond just who is going to get what. As long as you have minor children, you need to ensure that you have a plan laid out for who is going to care for them. The person who you want to have this responsibility should be named as your child’s guardian in the event of your death.
When you’re trying to decide who you’re going to name as your child’s guardian, you should think about how that person will fare with the children. They should be able to keep up with them physically and should be mentally and morally fit to raise them.
It’s a good idea to discuss your wishes for the children with the person you name as a guardian. Ideally, you should pick a guardian who has a stable life, including their finances. It’s possible that you might be able to help out financially if you use your will, trusts or payable on death designations to pass assets along to the guardian.
It’s also possible for you to put a trustee over the assets you leave for the children. This provides a system of checks and balances that may help to ensure that what you leave is used to care for the children. Ultimately, you need to have a solid estate plan, and you need to review it periodically to ensure it always meets your wishes and your child’s needs.
