Starting A Family In Oklahoma County? Do Not Skip The Estate Planning Step

Oklahoma County’s demographics tell a story of optimism and parenthood, with more kids and more families than neighboring counties. The county is also ahead of the state average, and it does not seem to be showing any signs of slowing down in the near future.

But starting a family comes with an absolute ton of planning, stressful changes, and time-consuming obligations. Chances are you have a lot on your plate already and are hopefully in excellent health, which can make it even easier to put aside estate planning for later. Unfortunately, later can all too easily become years later or any amount too late.

Each year, tragic and unexpected events take young children’s parents away. When one or both pass away without having left behind clear instructions and other estate planning documents, orphans are often left to the hands of the state or to relatives their parents might not have chosen for the important responsibility.

Luckily, sitting down with an estate planning attorney to hammer out at least the basic estate planning measures does not take very long, but the impact you can have by doing so is extensive.

What Crucial Estate Planning Documents Should Oklahoma County Parents Prepare?

If you have just had your first kid, are adding another to the family, or are perhaps rebuilding a blended family, significant changes are no doubt already occurring. You have new people to care about and care for, which includes working them into your estate plan. Here are three key ways you can start doing so with the help of an estate planning attorney.

Write A Will Or Set Up A Trust

The financial future of your children is one of the most important topics you can discuss with an estate planning attorney, and you should not wait to do so. Setting up a will is the bare minimum, as it will allow you to choose who gets what among your assets, including those you intend to go to your children or provide for their care.

Unfortunately or fortunately, minor children cannot receive property or own such assets directly, which means that even with a will in place, someone would have to be appointed to manage the money.

Alternatively, you could consider setting up a trust in their name to hold the assets and property until they are of age while making the money available should you wish it to help with the expenses of raising them. A trust also has the advantage of allowing you to spell out more clearly and explicitly how you want the funds you leave behind to be used and under what conditions they can be released or spent.

Assign A Guardian For Your Children

Perhaps even more importantly than how much you leave behind for your children, you’ll need to think about in whose hands you leave their care. Every child needs a guardian, and a court will have to decide, should you die unexpectedly, who will have the joy (and burden) of raising your children.

While the court will ultimately try to make the best possible choice for your child, if you leave a clear preference in writing as part of your estate plan, the court will weigh that heavily in your favor. This can prevent your child from falling into the hands of a relative you do not trust or get along with and help make sure that the people who know you best or will raise your children with the same values as you end up doing so.

Finally, to help avoid problematic conflicts of interest or to keep money from being misused, you can assign separate guardianship over the finances you leave behind for your children. This means one person or family might be responsible for their day-to-day care, but they would have to get the money to do so through another person to add an extra layer of security and assurance that your wishes are respected.

While so far, we have mostly discussed the possibility of an unexpected death, these are not the only dangers estate planning can help with. If you are in an accident but survive, barely, and are incapacitated for a significant or indeterminate amount of time, your children will still need a guardian, and your finances would be unavailable without the intervention of the court.

However, if you create powers of attorney, you can choose one or more trusted friends or family to access your assets and accounts. Not only will they be able to ensure your children’s temporary caretaker has the resources required, but they can also make other important legal and financial decisions needed to care for and protect your wealth and property while you are incapacitated.

You can also create a medical power of attorney as part of an advanced healthcare directive. This document would empower one or more trusted individuals to make medical decisions on your behalf, according to the instructions you leave in the advanced directive (sometimes called a living will). Doing so will protect your kids from any conflict surrounding your fate and make sure that the doctors make the decisions you would want them to with regard to your care, such as the prolongation of your life by artificial means.

Call An Oklahoma County Estate Planning Lawyer To Protect Your New Family

Legal Advantage Group | Oklahoma County Family Friendly Estate Planning Lawyers

If you have kids but do not yet have a complete estate plan, you are putting them at risk. Planning for the worst will not keep you from living the best years of your life; if anything, it will let you do so with additional peace of mind.

In Oklahoma County, young and future parents can count on the guidance and experience of the lawyers of the Legal Advantage Group when it comes to preparing vital estate planning documents. To begin working on yours or to update them after a new arrival, call (405) 449-5777 or reach out to our team online.