Estate Planning Solutions for Families with Minor Children
If you are the parent of a child who is not yet an adult one of your most important obligations is to furnish a secure environment for your child (ren). Thus, an important component of your estate planning must include providing for your children in the event an accident or illness left you unable to care for them. At Kraft Law Offices, we work closely with our clients to develop a thorough understanding of your circumstances and make sure that our solutions fully meet your objectives and concerns. For further information and dependable advice tailored to your family's unique estate planning needs, contact a Massachusetts family estate planning lawyer from Kraft Law Offices.
For families in which each parent is either a biological or legally adoptive parent, the law presumes that if something happened to one parent the other would have responsibility for the child. In these families, the main consideration is designating a guardian in the event something happened to both parents. Married same-sex couples and unmarried couples should be sure also to designate the other parent as guardian in case the family was in a location or situation where the law did not recognize the other parent as a parent.
Guardian provisions, in family estate planning need to be very explicit for divorced parents and blended families, where another parent may have some legal standing, and for unmarried couples where only one parent is a legally recognized parent, to make sure only the person(s) you choose obtain legal responsibility for the children.
Other parts of your estate plan also need to make provisions for your children - for example, ensuring that funds you own can readily be used to provide for their support while they are minors.
Establishing long-term financial security for your children requires setting up controls that extend into your children's early adulthood, to make sure funds are used only for necessities and purposes you specify, and your children don't inadvertently lose their inheritance through poor choices or irresponsible expenditures.
If you have a child that is developmentally disabled or otherwise qualifies for government benefits, it is imperative that you create a special needs trust, with specific provisions that allow funds to supplement government benefits without disqualifying the child from receiving those benefits.
Kraft Law Offices provides comprehensive counseling and family estate planning solutions for all types of families. We will work with you through these and any other issues important in your specific family to make sure your children have the maximum security and protection. To schedule an appointment or for additional information about any matter related to protecting your family, please contact a Massachusetts family estate planning attorney at Kraft Law Offices in Boston.
