Dec 30 2008
The All Important Will
Death is typically not a subject that most of us like to think about. But I can tell you that the reality is many people die everyday from things other than a long term illness. Although I hope you live to be 100, or at the very least have time to prepare your children and your estate, you need to plan for the worst. This is especially true if you are the sole provider for your children.
Should something happen to you do you really want them to have to suffer anymore than necessary? At the very best it would be that more than one person wants to care for them, but at the very worst it might be that no one steps up to the plate. Don’t you want to have a say in what happens to your children should you not be able to be there?
In my circumstance I have two sets of individuals listed for each of my children. Given their vast age difference and the fact that they have two different fathers it was necessary to do so. Having said that, I truly believe that everyone should list more than one individual as the party who would take parental responsibility for your child/children; regardless of the circumstance. The reason why I feel so strongly is because most individuals do not review their will often enough to be sure that the person that they had listed is still able to take on that responsibility. Therefore, the chances that both sets of individuals whom you had listed at one point in time not being at a juncture in their life where they are unable to take on your child/children is less likely to happen.
In addition, I also created a financial executor of my children’s estate. Therefore, the parties who would take my children in the event of my death would be provided a monthly child support rather than the entire lump sum. Everyone has a different level of money management skill so I feel that this is the best protection for all parties involved.
Finally, I have also placed some money in a trust for each child that they would obtain once they hit a certain age; again based upon the fact that my children are so different in age it is the best way to assure the dollars would be divided equally.
As a reminder: I sought the advice of my attorney regarding the above to be sure that all of my unique needs were met. I would recommend that you do as well. Please provide me some feedback on what you have done. Is your will set up similarly? Do you have any of the same circumstances that I do? If so, what are your recommendations? I certainly don’t have all of the answers but I am willing to tell you some of the decisions, right or wrong that I have made regarding my family.
