Estate planning is often associated with older people, but the truth is that people who are just starting a family could also find it very useful to take the time to create an estate plan. Even if you don’t have high value assets, an estate plan could be valuable because it can create a plan for your children.
The estate plan that you create should be considered carefully. It can be important to think about how you can protect your children and provide for them as they grow up if you were to pass away earlier than expected.
Skilled legal guidance can be a good thing to have when arranging an estate plan.
Decide who will raise your children
You may want to appoint a guardian for your children. This person is the one who would raise your children until they reach adulthood. Among the things you may want to consider when thinking about a potential guardian is who you can entrust with the responsibility and who would be able to handle it. You might decide to have someone near your own age be your choice. If your parents are healthy and able to take on the task, they might be the choice. Make sure that the person you choose is aware that he or she will have this responsibility. You also will want to ensure that the guardian is someone with whom your children will feel comfortable and safe.
Check the life insurance policy
Your life insurance policy could be used to pay for your final arrangements. If the policy is sizable, what is left could go to the cost of raising your children. It can be a good idea to check the beneficiary designation on the policy to ensure that the person who is named will use it as intended. You might even want to consider setting up a life insurance trust for the policy, depending on the circumstances.
Look into other types of trusts
Incidentally, a life insurance trust isn’t the only type of trust that can be considered. If you do have assets that might be placed in a trust, you may want look into the possibility of doing this if you want those assets to be used to help with the cost of raising your children.
Make plans for your final arrangements
While you might not be able to make comprehensive plans for your final arrangements, you can make some basic plans. Do you want to be cremated or embalmed? Where you do want to be buried? What type of service would you like? Jotting down this information and even buying a burial plot might help your loved ones to make your wishes happen if you do pass away unexpectedly. This let could them focus more on your children.