Raising a family has many levels of responsibility. While you’re always busy with daily life, it’s essential to take time to think ahead to the future—not only college, but also how to protect your children if you were to die or become incapacitated and unable to care for them.
This doesn’t need to be a sad consideration: just like buying car or life insurance, you’re simply ensuring their wellbeing by developing a strategy that hopefully, you’ll never have to implement. Start by talking with a skilled estate planning attorney who understands your unique situation and has the compassion and experience to develop documents you should have for minor children.
Estate Planning Documents to Protect Your Minor Children
If you have an estate plan in place, it sets up provisions that outline your wishes for financial security and guardianship of your minor children. These wishes will be legally binding and guide the court. Additionally, an estate plan can provide instructions for the management of a minor child’s inheritance until they reach adulthood. This includes setting up trusts that can provide financial support for your minor child until they reach the age of majority. By having an estate plan in place, you can ensure that your minor child is cared for and provided for if you pass away.
At a minimum, based on the advice of your estate planning lawyer, here are the documents every parent of minor children should have.
Will
A comprehensive will allows you to specify who you want to be the legal guardian of your children if both parents pass away and guarantees the transfer of assets to your designated beneficiaries. You can also state through a will who will act as the conservator of your minor children’s financial affairs until they reach a designated majority age, such as 18 or 22.
Legal guardianship agreement
If you die while your minor children are living in Florida and don’t have a guardianship agreement in place, it's likely they’ll be placed in the temporary legal custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families until a guardian is appointed to take care of them. The guardian is usually chosen by the court and often someone from the deceased parent's family. But you can avoid this hardship for your children by talking with trusted family members or friends in advance about assuming the responsibility of their upbringing and legal affairs, and your estate planning attorney will draw up the paperwork.
Trust agreements
This financial vehicle is another form of protection your lawyer may recommend. Revocable and irrevocable trusts provide a haven for your assets to avoid probate in the event of your passing, which can be a lengthy, complicated process. They also make sure your children don’t receive their inheritance too soon. Your estate planning attorney may also recommend other forms of protection for your family, such as a durable power of attorney, a health care directive, HIPAA authorization, and a living will.
Having a solid estate plan with all these documents in place provides peace of mind that your children will be taken care of no matter what.