Young Families
For families with young children, proper estate planning is absolutely necessary. And, yet it is easily overlooked with the chaos of everyday life – taking your children to school and extracurricular activities, planning and cooking meals, going to work, budgeting your finances, planning family time and vacations. It all happens so fast that it’s easy to forget to plan for the what ifs that no one wants to think about. But planning for those events, however unlikely they seem, is just a part of protecting your children.
What Will Happen to Your Children if Something Happens to You?
In the Short-Term
If something happens to you and your children are home with a babysitter or friend, the police will have no choice but to call in Child Protective Services and take your children into the hands of social services, until they can figure out what to do.
In the Long-Term
If you have a plan in place for these events, their stay with social services will be short-lived. Your children will be handed over to the people you chose to care for them, and they will be raised in a manner that you agree with.
But, if you don’t have a plan, then your children would be at the mercy of the court. As a result, they could easily be raised by someone you wouldn’t choose and in a way you might not agree with.
Let’s look at what would happen in the following situation . . .
Say you have two people in your life who would want to raise your children if something happened to you: Family Member A and Family Member B, someone you would never want to raise your children. If you made no provisions in writing, both could petition the court to be appointed to raise your children.
Here’s what the court hears . . .
Family Member A is in their 20s, has never had children, rents a small apartment, does not have a stable financial situation, and isn’t in a relationship.
Family Member B, the person you would never want, is an experienced parent with two kids of their own, a big house, a stable financial situation, and an outwardly stable relationship.
Now, who do you think the judge would choose to raise your children? On paper, Family Member B, the one you don’t want, appears to be the best choice.
But here’s what the court doesn’t know and won’t hear . . .
You know that Family Member B is the last person you would want to raise your children! You love them dearly, but you’ve watched them raise their children, you know their relationship with their spouse, and you’ve seen how they manage their money. You know you don’t want them raising your children because their values are different than yours. But the court would have no way to know that.
Family Member A, may be young and inexperienced, but you know they will raise your children as close as possible to how you would raise them. And you know, if Family Member B received custody, your children would not be raised with your values, your love, and your guidance.
This is why making a plan for your children is imperative for their future, especially when that future may not include you being physically present with them.
Next, What Happens to Your Assets, Without a Plan?
Your children would not have immediate access to your assets because your family would have to deal with the probate court. The probate process is often complex, costly, time-intensive, and public.
At the end of the probate process, all your life insurance and assets would be put into a guardian estate controlled by someone chosen by the court. This is often the same person who is given physical guardianship over any children involved, but it could also be a professional guardian who charges an hourly rate of $125 or more per hour. Then, when your children turn 18, your children would be given anything left in the estate – outright and completely unprotected.