There are lots of responsibilities that come with becoming a new parent. Sitting down to plan your estate is one of those. In the days before you welcome your new baby home, you should also make a point of scheduling an appointment with an attorney to discuss estate planning. There are two preliminary details that you may want to discuss with them.
Before your meeting, you should think about who you could trust to raise your child if you couldn’t. It’s important that you select someone that you believe would raise them similarly to yourself.
You should pay attention to several factors before appointing a guardian. You’ll want to get a feel for how solid their relationship with their partner is, what their approach to child-rearing is and how good that they are with finances. It’s also important for you to talk to the person that you have in mind to make sure that they’d be willing to take on this responsibility if called to do so.
Once you select someone for this role, you’ll want to make sure that you both document for them how you’d like for your children to be raised. The decision ultimately falls on the shoulders of the guardian to carry your wishes out. If they don’t, then it’s possible for a judge to overrule them.
While you’re appointing a guardian for your child, you may want to also want to set up a trust to help cover the costs of raising them. When you draft your trust document, you’ll need to include details about when disbursements can occur. Provided that your conditions are met, your Broomfield trustee would release these funds to cover such expenses as private school, health costs or even college.
Unexpected events can happen that may change the course of your life and the lives of your children. By appointing a guardian and setting up a Colorado trust, you’ll ensure everyone’s interests are protected once you’re gone. An attorney can answer any questions that you have about choosing a guardian and the different types of trusts that exist.