For parents of young children, estate planning often gets postponed; there’s not much wealth yet, the thinking goes, so why rush? That reasoning misses the single most important decision a young family will ever put in writing, and it has nothing to do with money: who would raise your children if you couldn’t?

If both parents die or become incapacitated without having named a guardian, a court decides who raises the children. A judge, a stranger to your family, chooses, based on limited information, possibly amid a dispute among relatives, all certain they know best. The one thing every parent would want, a real say in who raises their kids, is exactly what’s lost by not planning.

Naming a guardian in your will avoids that. But the choice deserves real thought: not just who loves your children, but who shares your values, has the stability and energy to raise them, and is genuinely willing to take it on. It’s worth naming a backup in case your first choice can’t serve, and worth actually asking the people you name rather than surprising them.

There’s a financial half to this, too, and it’s where the not-much-wealth-yet assumption really breaks down. If something happens to both parents, life insurance and other assets may suddenly create a substantial sum for minor children — and minors can’t manage it. Without a trust, those assets may be handed to the child outright at eighteen, or controlled by a court-supervised arrangement no one chose. A trust for the children’s benefit, with a trustee you select, solves this.

Your attorney drafts the guardianship nomination and the children’s trust; my role is to make sure the financial side is ready — adequate life insurance, the trust properly set up to receive it, and a plan for how the children would actually be provided for. Helping young families protect what matters most is the kind of work I do alongside your estate counsel.

Schedule an appointment with Tony Atrasz
Every family’s circumstances are different. To talk through how the ideas above apply to your own plan, contact Tony Atrasz at Pence Financial Group to schedule an appointment at (734)203-0493 or by email at tony.atrasz@pencefinancialgroup.com or click here to schedule an appointment.