Burlington estate planning attorneys offer help to people in all different kinds of life situations with making plans to address incapacity and end-of-life issues. Estate planning lawyers also help to make plans for what will happen after you pass away and for how you can protect your family.
Estate planning is something that everyone should do, but it can be especially important for people with specific personal or family situations. In particular, people with minor children – and especially single parents – should get estate planning help.
Unsworth LaPlante, PLLC can offer guidance and advice to single moms and dads in making sure their kids are protected because the right plans are in place. Give us a call as soon as possible to make your personalized estate plan that keeps your children safe and protected at every age.
Why is Estate Planning So Important for Single Parents?
Estate planning is very important for single parents for many different reasons:
- Parents need to choose a guardian for minor children.
You don’t want a custody fight or the court deciding who is going to take care of your kids if you become incapacitated or pass away before your children reach the age of 18. You should choose a guardian and make your preferences known.
- Parents need to ensure they provide financially for minor children.
You want to use the right kinds of accounts, like 529 savings accounts, to provide for your kids to go to college. You also want to ensure your children are financially provided for if you pass away. A child under age 18 cannot directly inherit, so you need to plan for who will manage your child’s money. If you don’t want your child handed a large inheritance right at age 18 without any conditions or limitations on managing money, you’ll also need to plan for how your child will inherit using tools like a trust.
- Parents need to address estate tax issues.
If you are a single parent and you have a larger estate, making plans to avoid estate tax may be more difficult. While a person who is married can leave assets to a surviving spouse without worrying about estate tax, this is not the case if you are going to leave money to a child. You want to know if your death will trigger taxes and plan for how to reduce or avoid those taxes if your estate could have to pay them upon your death.
- Parents need to plan for incapacity even when their kids are adults.
Planning for incapacity when your child is a minor is obviously essential so your child will be appropriately cared for if something happens to you. You may also wish to have a plan in place once your child reaches adulthood. If you don’t make an incapacity plan, it is likely your adult child would be your closest living relative and thus the person who must make decisions about what medical care should be administered or withheld in a medical emergency.
Your adult child would likely also have to go through guardianship proceedings to become your legal guardian if something happened to you and you had no incapacity plan. If you don’t want your kids to have to make hard medical choices and go through a complicated legal process, you need to plan to avoid that.
How Can Burlington Estate Planning Attorneys Help Single Parents?
Burlington estate planning attorneys can provide assistance to single parents in using tools like trusts, power of attorney, advanced directives, and a last will and testament in order to ensure their children are provided for. An experienced attorney can help you to create an initial incapacity plan and estate plan and can assist you in keeping your plans updated as your life changes and you and your child grow older.
Getting Help from Burlington Estate Planning Attorneys
Burlington estate planning attorneys can provide you with the advice you need to make a plan and keep it updated so you and you child always have the full measure of protection provided by law. Don’t hesitate to get the help you need to ensure your child is always as protected as possible. Call Unsworth LaPlante, PLLC today to find out what our legal team can do to help you.
You can learn about the estate planning process and the tools you can use by downloading our free estate planning worksheet. You can also give us a call at (802) 879-7133 or contact us online to get personalized advice on your plan. Give us a call now to get started.
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