If you have minor children in Rohnert Park, you need to be sure your will and other estate planning documents include protections like guardianship designations for your children. Call DeSantis Law Group, Inc. to get started.
Rohnert Park is a magnet for families. With all the kid-focused activities and entertainment available here, the city is a great place to visit and to raise a family. Indeed, you may have moved to Rohnert Park hoping to offer your children a sheltered and joyful childhood, but you cannot afford to let the tranquil life here lull you into neglecting a vital protection for your kids: estate planning.
While it might seem depressing or pessimistic to plan for the worst, good parenting is often about thinking ahead. If you want your children to be protected and cared for after you are gone, it is vital to ensure you have an estate plan that includes guardianship designations and other crucial protections.
So, between visits to Rohnert Park’s many attractions, or while you watch your children play outside tonight, start thinking about who you would like to care for them when you are gone. Then call local estate planning firm DeSantis Law Group, Inc. to set up the guardianship designations and to discuss what you might need to add to your estate plan to protect your family.
In the eyes of the law, every child needs someone to care for them and make decisions for them as long as they remain too young to do so for themselves. As parents, you have the responsibility of making legal and financial decisions on behalf of your children while they are minors. But if you are no longer able to do so, a court will have to decide who should care for your children.
In California, we distinguish between the guardianship of the person and the guardianship of the estate.
The same individual can be both types of guardian, though it might not always be wise to choose the same person to handle both sets of responsibilities. Separating them can help avoid perverse incentives and add an extra layer of protection for minor children.
Unfortunately, you do not make the final guardianship decision; a court will have to do that. However, you can greatly influence your children’s futures by working with an experienced estate planning lawyer who will ensure your wishes for your kids and other protections for them are properly expressed in your estate plan.
Estate planning becomes essential when you start a family because now you have dependents. You do not want to leave them without resources or at the mercy of the courts or social services should you be taken from them unexpectedly.
Fortunately, as many Rohnert Park families have discovered before you, with our guidance it is entirely possible to set up an estate plan designed around the needs and protection of your children. As your estate planning team, we can help you plan ahead for your children’s needs in the event you are not here to raise them.
In Rohnert Park, and throughout California, the ultimate decision of who will become your minor child’s guardian is made by the court. This can seem frustrating since the court’s decision will greatly impact your children’s future. However, the court will take into consideration your opinion about who should become the guardian of your minor children if you include a designation in your estate plan.
At DeSantis Law Group, Inc. we can help you create guardianship designations for both guardianship of the person and estate that the court will review if tasked with selecting a guardian for your children.
A will is essential to express your guardianship preferences, but if you want to leave any assets (like money) for your children the best way to do so is through a trust. If you have specific goals for how that money should be spent or if you want to keep the money out of irresponsible hands, you should set up one or more trusts for the benefit of your family. Using a trust to control money for young children is much better than leaving money directly to children in a will because the money in a trust avoids probate, eliminates the need to create a guardianship of the estate, and offers you much better control over when and how the money will be spent.
A trust allows you to place those assets in the care of a third-party (called a trustee) whose job it is to follow your rules and instructions for how these assets can and should be used. In addition to allowing money to be spent on the child’s basic living expenses, you could also authorize distribution of money to pay for things like a child’s education, to help your children buy a house, or to give them a nest egg to start a business. Proper instructions are critical to help ensure the money will not be spent too quickly or on the wrong things. Using a trust to control money for your children allows your influence and protection over your children to extend beyond their 18th birthday which is when a typical guardianship ends. A trust, on the other hand, is usually designed to end when you’ve outlined it should or the assets you left behind in the trust run out.
DeSantis Law Group, Inc.| Estate Planning To Protect Your Family And Assets
As you enjoy Rohnert Park and all its family-friendly attractions, remember how fortunate you are to be able to do so, but don’t forget how quickly life can turn upside down. Take responsibility for your children’s future and plan for all possibilities by reaching out to an estate planning lawyer near you.
Here at DeSantis Law Group, Inc., just a few miles away in Santa Rosa, our estate planning team has extensive experience working with families to create these protections, including guardianship designations. If you have children and do not yet have an up-to-date estate plan, we hope you will give us a call at (707) 542-2889 or contact our team online.
Call Now To Get Started (707) 213-2512