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3rd Trimester
About estate planning
I just made an appointment with a lawyer to get started on all of that, but I want to go in there with an idea of what I should know. I know we have to do wills, set guardianship for our LO in case something happens to us, designate an executor...Am I missing something else? What are the big things to consider? How did you go about this?
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Re: About estate planning
If you have specific property to go to specific people, make a list over the next few days so you don't forget something. Think about backup guardians for LO in case your first choice is unable or unwilling to take on the responsibility when the time comes. If there is someone you absolutely don't want for a guardian you can put that in.
The biggest decision we faced was money. Depends on your state, but in some states half of you estate goes in trust for LO (even if you are survived by a spouse), half to the guardian of LO. Also, the guardian of LO doesn't necessarily have to be the same as the guardian of LO's money. Something to think about.
You may also want to think about short term and long term caregivers. That way if the long term caregivers are out of town or live more than 100 miles away, the child(ren) are taken care of no matter what. You want to make sure that your guardanship stuff is air tight because in the state of NC if something happens to you and the guardians of your child(ren) cannot take over care within 24 hours, your children become wards of the state. And this is not just if you pass, but if you and your husband become incapacitated (like in a car accident).
Also, because of NC laws, I recommend keeping copies of guardianship documents in a safe spot in each of your cars (black out any SSN and things).
I think this is terrible advice. The lawyer will tell you what your particular state's rules are and make sure that you have met all the requirements so that your intentions will be carried out. These laws change regularly and if you are really concerned about being sure that you have done everything right, you are much better off talking to an attorney than trying to DIY.
Personally, we are setting up trusts (into which life insurance proceeds will be paid), then the trust is applying for life insurance. For that we need to decide who the trustee will be and at what age our LO would receive the proceeds outright. We are doing wills which indicate our guardianship wishes. We are also updating our health care proxies (aka living wills) and power of attorney documents (which give one another the ability to make financial decisions if the other is incapacitated). Those last things should have been done when we got married, but we had not done them, so we are doing it now.
Thank you so much for all the great advice!
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