A comprehensive estate plan can protect the things that matter most. For many, this means their property and their family.
Including provisions for the care of your children in your estate plan is essential for peace of mind. But many parents struggle with including such provisions as naming a legal guardian for their child in their plan.
When naming a legal guardian for your minor children, there are many factors to consider, such as whether the guardian has similar values to yours or can provide a welcoming home environment. But the toughest decisions are often the most important. Consider the outcome if you died without having legal protections for your children in place. Your children could be subject to conflict between relatives or they could be raised by someone you would never want, or in a way you wouldn’t want. They could even temporarily be taken into the care of strangers.
Identifying and naming a legal guardian for your children in your estate plan is a difficult and important task. Don’t put off naming a legal guardian for your child. While thinking about what will happen to your child if you die is difficult, your kids deserve the protection and you deserve the peace of mind that a legal guardian can provide.
Unfortunately, even if you have made the hard decisions and worked with a lawyer to name legal guardians in a Will, your kids could still be at risk because that would not take into account what happens if you become incapacitated or if the named guardians all live far from your home. It also wouldn’t protect against anyone who may challenge your decisions. A Kids Protection Plan® can document caregiver preferences and emergency instructions. AMO LAW can help you discuss these choices, although courts may still decide guardianship.
If you are ready to take that step, start by sitting down with us. As your Personal Family Lawyer®, we can walk you step by step through creating a comprehensive Kids Protection Plan® that not only names a legal guardian for your child in your Will, and records short-term, long-term, and incapacity-related care preferences. Working with a Personal Family Lawyer® can help you plan for family care and discuss potential risks.
If you are still undecided, in the meantime you can take some easy steps today to document your preferences for a relative or family friend to care for your children.
On our website Kids Protection Plan, you can legally document who you want to raise your child if you cannot. It’s free and easy. We’ve made it so there are no excuses.
We even guide you through the process of choosing the right guardian, if you cannot decide.
Do the right thing and name legal guardians for your child today.
This article is a service of AMO LAW, Personal Family Lawyer®. We don’t just draft documents, we help you make informed decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™ during which you can become more financially organized and consider planning choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.