Parents’ first concern: who will take care of our children should we both pass away before the children are 18 years old.
One of the most compelling reasons for parents of minor children to create an estate plan is their children. Loving parents will do anything for their children and are always making decisions based on what is best for the family. An estate plan for parents with underage children is created because they are thinking about their children and doing what is best for the family. The estate plan will include planning and directions for property and the care of their minor children. The documents that will contain these details are a Will, possibly a Revocable Trust, Power of Attorney for medical and financial decisions, and a Deed for their house.
My husband and I sat down to have “the talk” about who we would name as the guardian for our children. These are not easy conversations, even though we both were on the same page as to who we would want as the guardian, it was hard thinking about having to name someone at all because it means we were not there to raise our children. That is hard, physically uncomfortable and mind crushing hard. You are really choosing the best, worst option because it is not you.
But the process is worth the uncomfortableness, it is better to have those hard conversations and make 
those difficult decisions, then do nothing at all.
We chose to take the steps to make sure if something happened to both of us, the process of our children having a guardian named by the court would be as smooth as possible. We did not want any questions on what we intended or anticipated for our kids. We wanted our wishes and directions to be crystal clear.
When the unthinkable happens and children are left without their parents and it is not clear who the parents wanted as the guardian of their children, then the court process of naming the guardian can get messy. If there are several relatives that want to be the guardian, they can all request to be named and then it is up to the court to make the decision about who is raising and caring for the children. This process is happening during a time when there is already so much pain and loss being felt by the children and family.
If you have minor children, take the step to schedule a meeting to discuss your goals and how our office can help. You are able to name a guardian for your minor children in your Will, then name a back-up, just in case. Take some time to plan for the unthinkable. You love your kids more than you can express and working with our office to create an estate plan that details your wishes for your minor children is a gift you create that we all hope is never used while children are young.
Download Your Guide to Choosing a Guardian on our website for a starting point on thinking about who you will choose. You can do this.