Parents want what's best for their kids. Creating an estate plan allows a parent to develop a personalized plan to ensure they can provide financially and relationally for their kids.

WHY SHOULD PARENTS CREATE AN ESTATE PLAN? Parents want what's best for their children. Creating an estate plan allows a parent to develop a personalized plan to ensure that they can provide both financially and relationally for their children. A personalized estate plan can also provide structured instructions and guidance to the people that you select to care for your children after you pass. You can select a guardian to care for your children, provide instruction for their care, and provide the financial tools to the guardian to give the kind of care you wish to see given to your children in your absence.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO TO PROPERLY PLAN FOR YOUR CHILDREN? In order to properly plan for your children, we recommend that you consult with a lawyer to guide you in creating your personalized estate plan. The estate plan may contain any of the combination of the following documents to provide for the financial and relational well-being of your children and loved ones: a Will, a Durable Power of Attorney, a Health Care Power of Attorney, Powers of Attorney for Minor Children's Health Care, a Directive to Physicians, and/or a Revocable Living Trust Agreement. You may also need to consider purchasing life insurance.

I CAN GET A FREE FORM ONLINE. WHY DO I NEED A LAWYER? We are big fans of DIY, but not when it comes to making sure your children will be taken care of if something happens to you. The online forms are just that, forms that do not take into consideration your and your family's particular circumstance. They may omit key things in your planning, may not be up to date, or may not comply with Washington law. Your children may not be safeguarded the way you intend and, unfortunately, they won’t find out until it’s too late. An experienced lawyer will guide you to make sure your customized plan for your family is in place.

WHEN SHOULD WE DO OUR ESTATE PLANNING? We recommend that you consult a lawyer and create your personalized estate plan as soon as possible. Parents scrutinize every decision they make regarding their children. What school? Which car seat? Which babysitter? Organic or is non-organic ok? With so many immediate concerns, consulting a lawyer and creating a personalized estate plan can get thrown on the back burner. However, creating a personalized estate plan should not be neglected. An estate plan ultimately ensures that should unexpected events occur to render you incapacitated or worse, that your children and loved ones will still have the benefit of your financial and personal care plan for them.

WHAT ARE SOME SPECIFIC ESTATE PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS FOR OUR MINOR CHILDREN?

When creating an estate plan for parents of minor children, we consider:

* Naming a guardian to provide care to the minor children so the courts don't choose for you;

* Setting up Trust for the children with rules and guidance for the Trustee on how the money is to be spent for education, care, maintenance, and activities (sports, hobbies etc.);

* If any of the children have special medical or developmental needs, we recommend creating a Special Needs Trust to provide the financial support necessary for that child;

* Powers of Attorney for Minor Children's Health Care to ensure your children are cared for by those you choose;

* We discuss and counsel clients on selecting an agent for your Durable Power of Attorney and Health Care Power of Attorney; and

* We discuss and counsel clients on your Directives to Physicians so your wishes are clear.

SHOULD WE HAVE A WILL OR A REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST? Everyone needs a Will, but only some people need a Revocable Living Trust. With a Will, you can leave property to your children and only in a Will can you name a guardian for your children. A Will is also necessary to capture any property that did not make it into the Trust. There are a variety of Trusts with different purposes. Generally speaking, if you want to keep your assets private, avoid the hasslesof probate, if you do not want your children (minor or adult!) or the guardian of your minor children to have access to all funds at once, if you own real estate in more than one state, or if you are living in a blended family situation and to provide additional protections for the children of previous relationships, with a Trust you can dictate when and under what circumstances funds should be distributed to your beneficiaries over time. If you are considering a Trust in planning for your family, it is best to consult a lawyer. During the planning process, we will discuss your goals so that a Trust can be customized to achieve your planning and financial objectives.

WE HAVE WILLS, WHY DO WE NEED A POWER OF ATTORNEY?

A Will only comes into effect after you die. A Durable Power of Attorney and a Health Care Power of Attorney allow you to appoint a person with authority to make financial or health care decision for you should you become incapacitated and unable to make those decisions for yourself.

Contact us or give us a call today at 253.858.5434 to set up an appointment to learn how estate planning can protect your family. We proudly represent clients throughout Washington and Idaho and are available to meet in person, by phone, or via video conference.