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Estate planning for parents
Who raises them, who manages their money, and who's named on the accounts that skip the will. Get those three on paper and the worst case has a plan. Everything below is general information with free tools attached; it isn't legal advice, and the page says so when a lawyer earns their fee.
Decision one
A will is where you nominate a guardian for minor children. Without one, a judge chooses using state law and whoever steps forward, and the person who'd volunteer first is not always the person you'd pick. Name a first choice and a backup, and ask them before you write them in.
Nominate a guardian in the will template →Decision two
Minors generally can't receive an inheritance directly, so money left straight to a child usually triggers court supervision until they turn 18, then arrives all at once. A will can name a custodian or create a simple trust structure instead, deciding who manages it and when the child gets it. This is the part most worth a lawyer's hour for larger amounts.
Decision three
Life insurance and retirement accounts pass by beneficiary designation, and naming a minor child directly on those forms sends the money through the court problem above. Many parents name their spouse first and the will's structure for minors second. Whatever you choose, check the forms; the form beats the will.
Audit every designation →The funding
The plan above decides who; insurance decides with what. Term life insurance while the kids are dependent is how most families cover the gap between savings and eighteen years of raising a child. Know what your employer's group policy actually pays, and whether it follows you out the door if you change jobs.
How life insurance pays out →While you're alive
An advance directive and a durable financial power of attorney cover the version of this where you're alive and can't act: who makes medical calls, who pays the mortgage. Parents of minors need these as much as the will, and they're the fastest documents on this page to finish.
Start your state's advance directive →If this feels early
The guardian nomination alone justifies the will, and it matters most exactly when there's no money attached. Assets make estates complicated. Kids make dying without a plan catastrophic.
The case for a will in your 20s →When to get help
Blended families, an ex with custody claims, a child with a disability who receives benefits, a business, real estate in two states, or serious money: each of those earns a licensed attorney in your state. The template gets the guardian named today; the lawyer makes the structure hold.
The documents protect the kids. The handoff protects the surviving parent, who'll be running the household alone while grieving. The spouse page walks the five handoffs, and the binder holds it all.
What your spouse should know →