Having a Child? How to update your estate plan
Having a child often brings joy and happiness to every family. However, it also means an added responsibility because the child depends on you to survive.
It doesn’t matter whether you are there or not, you will have to plan in advance to ensure that your child is well taken care of.
Parenting comes with its own challenges and coupled with your work and the cares of life, it can be easy to forget about important things such as including your newborn into your estate plan.
In case you already had an estate plan in place prior to getting a new child, there will be a need to revise it to include the new member of the family. This is where the services of a Bucks County estate planning attorney come in handy.
How does a new child affect your existing estate plan?
There’s no doubt that a new child will have a big impact on your estate plan. Things such as business succession plans, wills, and trusts, retirement, and insurance policy beneficiaries among others will have to be relooked at. Sometimes you might not understand how some of these things might change in your estate plan.
As such, it is important to consult Bucks county estate planning lawyer as soon as you welcome a new member to your family. A lawyer will be able to take you through the entire process and explain to you the impact that it will have on your state plan.
Adding a new child to your will
A will generally gives instructions on how your assets or property will be distributed in case you die. On the other hand, a living trust chooses a trustee to be in charge of the property. Most people have either a will or living trust in place before they have children.
In case you die without a will, the property is distributed according to the state’s inheritance laws – which may not necessarily favor your child or children. You will need a good estate planning attorney in Bucks County to ensure a will is drafted to avoid subjecting your child to endless trouble.
If another child is born after you a will has been drafted, then you will have to update it to include the new child as one of the heirs.
An estate planning lawyer in Bucks county will be best placed to advise you on how to make the changes. But if you get a child before drafting a will, then that’s a perfect chance to do it.
The other option is setting up a trust for your child or different trusts for every child. You will assign assets to trusts and the appointed trustee will be the one to distribute them to each child.
Power of attorney for a child
In case you are alive but incapacitated or unable to make decisions for one reason or the other, separate documents from the will be required concerning your child.
A durable power of attorney will name someone to represent and act on your behalf in such cases. The person is also known as an agent will have powers to transfer money, pay bills, deal with banks among other financial transactions.
But you will need to hire a reliable lawyer from Olen law office to ensure effect the power of attorney process.
Why it is important to have an estate planning attorney Fairless Hills PA
Estate planning laws are complex. Making changes to your existing will upon getting a new child can prove to be a challenge without an experienced estate planning lawyer Fairless Hills PA. A lawyer will take you through all the requirements and ensure that your new child is included on the list of heirs.