As you await the new baby, you plan for everything. You become an expert planner! You schedule birthing classes, plan the new nursery, start looking at preschools and schools. There are so many things to think about while you await your new child!
Don’t overlook one of the most important plans for your child: an estate plan. Below are five considerations for us to discuss when setting up an estate plan once your new baby is born:
- Guardians and Trustees. Delay in choosing a guardian is often caused when parents cannot agree on that one perfect person. Get very comfortable with the fact that you cannot make a perfect choice – and if you don’t choose and something happens, the court will choose for you. If you make a selection and change your mind, you can always amend your guardian nominations. When you’re thinking about a guardian or trustee, think about someone who shares your beliefs. Who is naturally part of your child’s life? Who is willing to take on the responsibility of raising your child if you are unable to do so?
Truest Law offers a unique process for families with young children. Contact us to discuss a Kid’s Protection Plan and how that can ensure that can help you ensure that your children are always cared for by the people that you trust and know.
- Costs of college. As part of your planning, I bet you’ve looked at the costs of college. It’s already high and what will be the cost in 18 years? Maybe you want to talk to your wealth manager about starting to save. Talk about tax savings while you plan for college.
- Passing on your assets. That tiny baby cannot make decisions about assets. The law does not allow a minor to own property outright. If not done correctly, the courts will be overseeing any assets passed to your children. The best way to protect this new baby is to set up a trust and name a trustee to manage the assets if something happens to you. You also need to look at all of those beneficiary forms for your retirement accounts and insurance policies to be sure that your child will have these funds available for future care. Even if you name your child in a will, the beneficiary form trumps your will.
- Avoid probate. If you have a will, you probably WON’T avoid probate. To make sure that you have a plan in place to avoid court and conflict, talk to us about setting up a trust so that your assets can pass to your heirs the way you choose.
- Asset Protection. If you have an estate that exceeds the exemption for estate taxes, you will want to discuss asset protection strategies to minimize taxes and preserve your assets for your heirs and not for the government.
If you are ready to protect your children through proper estate planning, visit our website at Truestlaw.com or call our office today at 480-949-6500 to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session. We normally charge $750 for a Family Wealth Planning Session but because this planning is so important, we have made space for the next two people who mention this article to have a complete planning session at no charge. Call today and mention this article.