For readers of this legal blog, you know that we commonly post on estate planning topics. And, in a recent legal blog post, we discussed the topic of estate planning with children. In that post, we discussed guardians for your minor children and the considerations you need to make for minor, adult and disabled children.
In this blog post, we will discuss some additional considerations for estate planning with children.
Life insurance
Life insurance can be the most important part of your estate plan for your child, especially when your children are young and you have not yet accumulated a lot in assets.
Even for older kids, a life insurance policy can fund the cost of their education and pay off the house for your spouse.
Long-term care insurance
Another piece of estate planning for children is long-term care insurance for both you and your spouse. As you age, the likelihood of needing long-term care increases, but the costs associated with long-term care can destroy your assets. This is why, especially for middle aged parents, long-term care insurance can be critical to the well-being of your children and surviving spouse.
Trusts for children
Trusts can be another important tool for your children. Trusts can shield funds from bad decisions, creditors, lawsuits and even the IRS, depending on how they are formed and funded.
For example, a qualified terminable interest property trust can provide your surviving spouse income but will automatically pass the remaining assets to your children when your spouse passes.
An irrevocable life insurance trust allows for your insurance policies to flow into the trust to bypass probate. A charitable trust can even be used to allow you to donate during your life, but ensure that when you pass, the assets flow to your children.
Of course, these are not the only concerns estate planners have for their kids, but these two posts will give you a good starting point.
