As a parent, every decision you make is undoubtedly made with your childrenâs best interests at heart. That is especially true when it comes to estate planning. Whether your children are toddlers or grown adults with children of their own, the decisions you make in your estate plan will probably be heavily influenced by your desire to protect and/or provide for your children if something happens to you. With that in mind, the Essex Junction attorneys at Unsworth LaPlante, PLLC consider five questions parents should ask themselves when creating an estate plan.
Questions Parents Should Ask
Your estate plan should be created with the advice and guidance of an experienced estate planning attorney. The finished product should also reflect your unique needs and individual estate planning goals. There are, however, some common questions every parent every parent should ask themselves when it comes to estate planning, such as:
- How Can I protect assets intended for my children? When your children are minors, they cannot legally inherit directly from your estate. As such, you should not make gifts to them in your Last Will and Testament because an adult will have to take control of the gift until they reach the age of majority. To ensure that you know who that adult will be and that you retain a certain amount of control over how an inheritance is used while your children are minors, consider creating a trust agreement.
- Who will care for my children if something happens to me? Every parent should have a plan in place that includes a designated Guardian for your children in the event one is needed. Your Last Will and Testament offers you the only official way to let a judge know who you want to be your childâs Guardian should one be needed.
- What happens if I become incapacitated? While you likely think in terms of your death when contemplating your estate plan, incapacity is a very real possibility. If you are a parent, your incapacity will directly impact your children. As such, you should include a thorough incapacity planning component in your overall estate plan. Within that component, you might include a revocable living trust to give someone of your choosing control over your finances if you become incapacitated as well as a durable Power of Attorney to give someone the legal authority to care for your children during a period of incapacity.
- Is a lump sum inheritance a good idea? If your children are adults, they can inherit directly from your estate; however, you may still want to use that trust you created when they were younger to avoid handing down a valuable lump sum inheritance. A trust can distribute that same inheritance in staggered distributions over a period of years, providing financial security for your children and peace of mind to you.
- How often do I need to review my estate plan? Once you have your estate plan in place, do not forget to review and update the plan on a routine basis and when events dictate a more immediate review. As your children get older, you will likely want to make changes to the plan while a life event, such as the birth of another child, might prompt the need for a more immediate update to the plan.
Are You a Parent Who Has Estate Planning Questions?
For more information, please attend one of our upcoming FREE webinars. If you are a parent and you need help creating or updating an estate plan, contact an experienced Essex Junction estate planning attorney at Unsworth LaPlante, PLLC by calling 802-879-7133 to schedule your appointment today.
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