Estate planning plays a pivotal role in ensuring that young children are provided for in the event of unexpected circumstances. Parents with young children are very busy people and there is never enough time, but don’t let your busy schedule prevent you from creating an estate plan for your family.

We have experience making the estate planning process quick and painless for families with young children. We help ensure that all the legal aspects of your plan are addressed, including:

• Working with parents to identify which documents are important for their family’s protection.
• Helping parents make the decisions that need to be made, including naming guardians for minor children and arranging for assets to be managed in trust for young beneficiaries.
• Drafting the appropriate documents, including a Power of Attorney that will allow a spouse or another trusted adult to make financial decisions if a parent becomes disabled, and a Will which names a legal guardian for minor children.
• Helping parents determine how to handle their children’s inheritance, such as naming a conservator who will have control over the assets of a minor child, or establishing a trust that will hold a child’s inheritance until the child reaches an age at which they are able to responsibly manage those funds on their own. 
• Helping families with children with personal or mental health issues that make management of funds for the child’s benefit crucial to their future well-being.
• Creating trusts, such as Special Needs Trusts, for families with children with special need to allow continued or future eligibility for public benefits such as SSI and MassHealth.
• Creating a document that names an Emergency Guardian who can take custody of minor or disabled children and make decisions on their behalf before formal legal guardians are appointed by the Court.

Putting a plan in place for a young family will provide peace of mind and a feeling that an important task has been finally crossed off the To Do List! The plan can be changed over time as the family grows and circumstances change. 

For more information, read Attorney Maria Baler’s article on Planning for Families with Young Children and Attorney Brittany Hinojosa Citron’s article on 5Things Young Families Should Know About Estate Planning.

To schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys, contact Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC by phone at 781/461-1020 or by email using our Contact form.