If you are like most people today, you do not have a will. The
reasons for this failure are many, with the most common being
along the lines of “I don’t have enough assets to worry about”,
“I don’t know how to write a will”, or “Lawyers charge a lot of
money”. Here’s my answer to the last two – buy a software
package that helps you draw up your own will and follow the
forms. This software will ask you a series of questions and you
supply the answers. When you are done, you have a piece of paper
ready to be signed; witnessed and placed somewhere it can be
found in the event you die. As for your lack of asset objection,
that might be true if you live in a cardboard box, with only the
clothes on your back, as the last surviving member of your
family. If this does not describe you, than you do have assets
and you really should make preparations for dispersing them when
you die. As you can tell from the title, this is not about your
will except to relate as to why everyone should have one.
Instead, this writing is about your children. If you are
childless, keep reading because someday you may have children.
If you know you will never have children, keep reading because
someday you may be able to use what you learned here in a
discussion with someone who has children. The biggest reason
everyone who has children must have a will is because of the
children’s guardian. Essentially, a guardianship is an
institution created and administered by the court, making the
guardian a court-appointee. However, when you name someone to be
a guardian in your will, you make it difficult for someone else
to be appointed. If you don’t name a guardian, a judge will
decide who will raise and nurture your children. Most likely,
this judge does not know your family, nor does the judge really
have the capability to know if any of your extended family
members can properly raise your child. It is impossible to
stress how important it is for parents who die early to find the
right people for the guardianship job. They will be responsible
for the upbringing of your children. You should definitely
consider things like parenting skills, values, physical
environment (apartment/farm), and religion. Two important
questions to ask (and the answers): 1.What if the best person to
bring up your child physically is not the best manager of money?
While you are planning your will and your children’s guardian,
you can also plan to separate the functions of guardianship. To
do so, you first write your will appointing a “guardian of the
person” who will care for your children physically. Then, also
in your will, you name the person whom you appoint to be the
“guardian of the estate”. This person’s job is to dole out the
resources so that your children are not a burden on the person
or family taking care of them. 2.What if the guardian you select
is over flowing with love and values, but scrape the bottom of
the barrel each month to feed their own children? Everyone knows
that you do certainly do not intend to add your children to
theirs and cause them undue hardship. This leaves only one real
solution. Provide adequate financial resources for the guardian
to properly care for your children. At the least, you should
provide enough cash resources to feed and cloth your children
each month until they complete high-school. Many parents also
make an effort to provide the resources for their children to be
able to go to college. Most likely your own asset chart is a
little short for providing the amount of cash your children will
need or you want to provide after your death, consider using
life insurance. Term life insurance to be paid into a trust is
relatively inexpensive during the years your children are at
home. If you are leaving a trust with a significant sum of
money, you may want to appoint a “guardian of the estate” to
handle the finances separate from the “guardian of the person”.
This can remove the obvious temptation if someday the guardian
encounters personal finance difficulties. The estate guardian
and the person guardian must be able to get along, so it is
important you pick the right people for these positions. Even
more important is that if you do die early, your child will be
brought up in a loving, nurturing home you have chosen. After
all, you wouldn’t go through the difficult issues of estate
planning and guardian picking if you didn’t want the best for
your children. That best includes you making out a will, and
doing it as early as tomorrow.
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