When creating an estate plan for your young family you and your spouse may want to consider the children’s opinion. Open communication about the future is important and critical for the estate plan and is recommended, especially to avoid the potential of a family feud.
Guardianship
Although the idea of death is not a comfortable topic, it might be important to include your children in the decision of who will care for them if something was to happen to you and your spouse. Ask the children whom they would feel comfortable living with out of the family and friends they know. You may think the world of certain family members, but those particular family members may make your children uncomfortable. Let the children decide whom they love and want to raise them.
How To Start the Conversation
Never wait for a time of crisis to start the dialogue of what will happen in the future for the children. Choose a calm time when the whole family is gathered together, the dinner table may be a perfect time to begin life-planning conversations. When the subject is brought up make your children feel secure that you honestly are trying to make the best decisions for their future in case of an emergency. Explain the children the importance of planning for the future and that when they become adults they will need to create their own estate plan. Turning the conversation into a life lesson and sharing details may actually be the best thing you can do to help your family’s overall future even after you are gone. Discuss how you plan to care for the children financially in case something should happen and that you are creating the plan not because something is happening now, but because you love them so much that you want to be prepared for anything that may happen.
At Estrada-Legal we are available to help with estate planning for young families. We are also able to help you create a positive dialogue to present to your children about the future. We take pride in helping with every aspect of future planning and we want to ensure that the entire family is involved in this critical life planning process.
