If this were your last day alive, who would care for your children tomorrow?
Testamentary planning means setting up the management of your affairs in the event of your death. This not only includes the payment of your debts and disbursements of your liabilities, but also includes making arrangements for the protection of your children.
A Revocable Living Trust is an instrument to allow you to distribute your estate and care for the needs of your children without going through probate.
Wills are important to establish your desires for distribution and guardianship; however, it will have to go through the probate process. We can help you make a wise selection of whether the Will or the Revocable Trust if the best instrument for you.
Some couples establish a Joint Will , which provides that certain requests for distribution will not be disturbed after the death of one spouse, even if the survivor remarries.
Guardianship for your minor children is an important part of your testamentary planning. After your death, the Courts will look to your will as a statement of how you would ask things to be taken care of. If you do not make arrangements to provide for your children, your children will not only have to face the grief of your death, they will also face the uncertainty of their future.
In addition to planning for guardianship, another safeguard for your children is to prepare a power of attorney for the care of your children in your absence or incapacity. You will name a trusted person to make health care decisions for your child when you are not available. This person will also need to have important health insurance information to supply any health care provider in the event that they need to act in this capacity.
Life insurance and life insurance trusts may also become an important part of your planning. If you have your life insurance proceeds pass directly into a simple trust for the benefit of your children and you select a competent person to be in charge of that trust, you will eliminate a lot of delays. If the trust is payable directly to your children and you do not have a guardian for the children, the money from your life insurance may be the motivating factor for ANY person who thinks they can get custody of your children. Be careful.
Another important part of your testamentary planning is the effect your death will have on children born prior to your marriage and your stepchildren . Joint planning of the distribution of your estate with your spouse will save a lot of family turmoil in the event of the death of you or your spouse.
You also need to remember that in the State of Tennessee a marriage or the birth of a child will make your current will void.
Are you ready to proceed? You may email or call for a consultation appointment. We will forward to you an outline of the information we will need.
Skilled Tennessee Guardianship Lawyers
At LawCare , we are committed to helping families in Nashville, Brentwood and other Tennessee communities draft comprehensive testamentary and guardianship documents. Our firm can be reached by phone at (615) 661-0122, by e-mail, or by filling out our in-take form.
