And for the final estate planning tip when baby is on the way — review your insurance policies. Each situation is unique and you will want to review yours with an insurance professional, but you should know that unless you make provision for a trust in your Will and ensure money is in your estate, money left to your child(ren) directly will not be readily available to anyone to raise your child(ren). For example, if you name your spouse as your first beneficiary and your child(ren) as alternate beneficiaries, and both you and your spouse die, all of the insurance money for the child(ren) must be held intact until they are 18 at which time they get it all. Guardians or other relatives raising the child(ren) can apply to court to ask for money to help raise them but it is very difficult to get. The court’s thinking is that the family can raise the child(ren) and the money that parents left for their child(ren) must be held for the child(ren) until they turn 18. To get around this, you must have a trust in your Will as mentioned above. Without a trust in your Will, there is little you can do to prevent the situation I’ve described.
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Blog posts pre-dated December 1, 2015 were originally published under Neff Law Office Professional Corporation.
