If you are starting a family by getting married or having children, now is a great time to start an estate plan. Estate planning can protect your spouse or partner and children in case anything unexpected happens to you.

Your Children’s Future

When you first have children, everything changes. Suddenly you have kids depending on you for everything, including providing for their futures. A few different estate planning structures can help. You should consider setting up a guardianship plan in case you and your spouse can no longer care for your children – whether you are out of the country for a long time, in the hospital, or worse. Also, you should think about funding your child’s education or future needs. You could set up a 529 college savings plan or a trust to start saving money.

Providing for Your Family

It may be difficult to think about a time in the future when you cannot provide for your family. Estate planning can help keep your family’s future bright even if something should happen to you. Your estate plan might be as simple as making a will that leaves your assets to your family. You can use other estate planning structures such as life insurance, retirement accounts, or trusts to increase the amounts that you leave for your family’s support. In addition, estate planning attorneys can help you do tax planning to minimize the amount of taxes owed on the money you save.

Future Planning

Talking about estate planning assists new families in planning for the future. When you meet with an estate planning lawyer, he or she should speak to you about your long-term goals and desires for your family and your money. For example, you may want to start saving now with an eye to helping your future grandchildren, or you may have a child who will have significant medical expenses in their lifetime that you will need to fund. Estate plans are not one-size-fits-all, and yours can help you accomplish your goals. With your new family in the forefront of your mind, take the time now to plan for the future.

Are you starting a family and need to make an estate plan? Angela Klenk, Esq. and the team at Beach Cities Estate Law couple personalized attention to your estate plan with big law firm experience for a winning combination to give you peace of mind. To schedule a case evaluation, visit Beach Cities Estate Law online or call Angela’s office at (424) 400-2125.