We Just Had A Baby:
New Parents Estate Planning Checklist
Whether you just had a little bundle of joy or have young kids of any age, being a responsible parent isn’t so hard when you know what to do.
Name A Guardian ASAP
If something happens to you and the other parent and you didn’t pick another person to care for your children, then the Probate Judge will be doing it for you. You need to name the person in your Will, as a guardian, so you’ll have to create one of those.
Learn about Wills here.
Life Insurance: Term or Permanent
How will your family get by financially if something happens to you? Term Insurance is less expensive and covers you for a set amount of time, but has to be renewed and paid for according to a schedule. Universal or Whole Life (Permanent) Insurance is a lot more expensive but it never expires. After you get a policy, let the beneficiaries know about it and where you keep it.
With Great Power of Attorney Comes Great Responsibility
Your POA has power over everything involving your finances. This includes paying your bills, managing your accounts, overseeing investments, signing contracts, and filing your taxes. It is important to pick the right person, set the guidelines and keep it updated.
Medical Decisions To Make
The components of an Advanced Directive include naming a Health Care Agent, creating a Living Will, and a Medical Power of Attorney to take the burden off your family. Learn about Advanced Directives here.
Get The Paperwork Under Control
If something happened to you today, would your family know where to start? Could they find whats important, including all the stuff listed above (Will, Life Insurance Policy, POA, Advanced Directives…) as well as passwords for digital accounts (email, social media, etc) and all the other stuff cluttering up your world. Getting through Probate can be difficult, being organized makes it easier.
Is Trust An Issue
People set up Trusts to minimize taxes, stay out of probate court, keep their information private and quickly transfer money and property to their beneficiaries and heirs.
Having a child is wonderful, worrying is not. Call us to set up a time to come in and set up a plan for if things go sideways. That way you can stop the worry and focus on whats important. We cover Glastonbury, Marlborough and all of Hartford County in general.