Children Grow and Your Estate Plan Should Follow
Every parent has at one time or another expressed amazement by how quickly children seen to grow. One day you are helping them tie their tiny shoes and the next day you are tripping over their size 12 Air Jordans.
And just as you make sure that once they outgrow their clothing they have new clothes that fit, so should you ensure that your estate planning fits them as they mature.
When children are young, there are estate planning instruments to protect them should something happen to you: guardianships to ensure that minor children and their assets are protected, life insurance and trusts to provide for their care and so on.
As your children reach their teens, it may be important for you to set up education trusts, and as they reach their 20s you will likely need to add asset protection plans to keep their inheritance safe from divorce, creditors or other risks.
And as your family grows, you should revisit your estate plans with an estate planning attorney to be sure each child or new family member is represented as you wish in your will and other financial documentation.
Having children means having a plan for their future; keeping your estate plan up to date will ensure you’ve planned for that future, and not for the past.
