Being a parent of minor children requires not only patience, attention, and affection in the present, but careful strategizing for the future. This is where estate planning comes in. If you live in Southeastern Massachusetts and are a parent of minor children, contact Surprenant & Beneski, P.C. today for skilled guidance in keeping your family secure.
In this blog, we will explore 6 essential actions you can take now to plan for your children’s future in terms of education, financial stability, guardianship if it becomes necessary, and inheritance when you pass.
Our attorneys have extensive experience when it comes to identifying your family’s unique needs, drafting fundamental documents and advising you about the significant role trusts can play in your estate plan. We will be here for you long term, providing you with tuned-in, informed, supportive guidance.
How Our Attorneys Will Help You Craft a Sturdy Estate Plan
Estate planning is a crucial task, especially for parents whose minor children depend on them. At Surprenant & Beneski, we understand the importance of creating a comprehensive estate plan that protects your family’s future. Below is an outline of our strategic approach to estate planning for parents with minor children designed to keep your children thriving and to provide your with confidence and peace of mind:
1. Understanding Your Family’s Unique Needs
Though all families have a great deal in common, no two families are identical. At Surprenant & Beneski, we take your family’s distinctive traits very seriously. Our legal team will create an estate plan that reflects your specific circumstances and aspirations.
In order to do this, we must consider:
- How many children you have, their ages and school status
- Health issues of any family members
- Special needs or talents of your children
- Educational goals for your children
- Your preferences for guardianship if it becomes necessary
- Your financial situation (e.g. income, assets, debts,
Investments, earning potential, retirement savings)
- Family dynamics and relationships
- Philanthropic intentions
- Whether you expect to receive a sizable inheritance
Knowing these details and getting to know you as a person will give us insight into your family’s particular needs, helping us to craft an estate plan just right for you and your kids.
2. Creating Critical Documents
Drafting critical foundational documents is the structural basis of creating an estate plan. Below are documents every parent of young children needs, not only later in life, but now since the future is full of unexpected events.
- Last Will and Testament in which you specify how you want your assets distributed and appoint guardians for your children in case you die prematurely.
- Durable Power of Attorney in which you name the individual you trust to manage your financial and legal affairs if you become incapacitated.
- Advance Directive, including a health care proxy, an advance directive (living will), a HIPAA release form to ensure that your wishes regarding healthcare are carried out.
These documents will go a long way to making sure that life will go on safely and lovingly for your children even if you become incapacitated or pass away.
3. Establishing Beneficial Trusts for Minor Children
Depending on your circumstances and your children’s needs, our lawyers can establish a trust to hold your children’s inheritance so the funds will be managed responsibly until your kids reach adulthood. A major advantage is that a trust can provide specific instructions on how and under what conditions their inheritance will be distributed.
In some situations, particular types of trusts may be helpful, such as a Special Needs Trust (SNT) to provide supplemental income to a child with a disability while maintaining their eligibility for government benefits.
4. Planning for Education Costs
It is wise to consider setting up an education trust or other savings mechanisms to ensure your children’s educational needs will be met, even if you’re not there to provide for them.
5. Considering Life Insurance
Life insurance can provide financial security for your children and cover expenses such as education costs or mortgage payments in the event of your death.
6. Reviewing and Updating Your Estate Plan Regularly
One trait all families with children share is that they are ever-changing. Regular reviews of your family’s circumstances ensure that all your accounts and insurance policies have the correct designated beneficiaries and that the information on your personal representative (executor) and trustees is current.
Protect Your Children’s Future: Contact Our Capable, Caring Estate Planning Attorneys Today
Estate planning is a proactive step to maintain your children’s security both in good times and challenging ones. Contact Surprenant & Beneski now to ensure your children are able to grow and blossom even in the face of calamity. You’ll sleep better if you do.