Estate Planning: An Important Next Step for “New Moms” as well as for “Experienced Moms” with Young Children

Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing moms in our lives who tirelessly and selfishly care for us, guide us, support us through hard times, and celebrate our successes. I recently saw this very appropriate definition of “mother” on social media:

Mother

[muh th –er] noun

One person who does the work of twenty, for free.

Person who always believes in you.

See also: Superwoman, saint

Special congratulations to all “new moms” who recently celebrated the birth of their first child and to “experienced moms” who recently expanded their family with the birth of a new child! Whether you are a “brand new mom” or an “experienced mom,” now is the time to think about preparing estate plan documents to protect your new or growing family.

At a minimum, parents with minor children (under age 18) should prepare wills with guardianship provisions included in them. If you do not have a will with guardianship provisions in place, the probate court will determine where your assets go and who will care for your minor child if something should happen to you. While no one likes to think about the possibility of that unfortunate circumstance, creating a will and designating guardians within that document will give you peace of mind that your child will be provided for and cared for exactly as you wish.

A revocable trust is another estate planning document that parents with young children should consider preparing. A revocable trust is a document that names a trustee to manage and administer assets held in the trust for the benefit of a beneficiary. The parent(s) of the child (or children) would be the initial trustee and beneficiary of the trust, but upon the death of the parent(s), a successor trustee would manage and administer the trust assets for the benefit of the child (or children), until each child reaches a greater age of maturity. That way, the child will not be able to squander inheritance on things that may be attractive to a younger child, such as video games, expensive sneakers, or even drugs and alcohol. Preparing a trust, and including appropriate distribution provisions for your children, will ensure that your younger children are financially provided for until they can make their own good financial decisions.

If you have recently celebrated the birth of a child and are interested in preparing new estate plan documents (or in updating existing estate plan documents to include your new child), please reach out to estate planning attorney Jackie Luthringshausen at jluthringshausen@lavellelaw.com or (847) 705-7555. You can schedule a complimentary one-hour estate planning consultation to discuss this important next step in parenthood.