07.17.07

Worst-case scenarios

Posted in Mom Tips at 8:54 am by Cristina

In my free time, which I admit there isn’t much of, I hang out on a site called Maya’s Mom. It’s a great social networking community of moms and dads talking about everything and anything. The only thing we all have in common with each other is kids.

Recently an online friend posted a question asking who in the group had a will, and if so, did they do it themselves or hire a lawyer to do it?  I was shocked with the amount of parents out there with no will, no trust, no nothin’ about what would happen to their children if both parents were to die.

In our consulting life, Jennifer and I have worked with lots and lots of lawyers.  Because of that, we’ve heard countless stories, especially from the estate and trust ones, of parents (or people in general) who passed away without good documentation on what was to be given to whom, and who was to take care of what.

So I can’t stress enough - if you haven’t done it already - get a will done.  Make sure you appoint an executor of your estate. Figure out who you would want to raise your kids in the unlikely event that neither you or your partner will be there to do it yourself.  Lawyers ask all kinds of probing questions - they give you every worst-case scenario you never wanted to think of.

That being said, I also highly recommend having an attorney draw up the documents.  Like most other things, you get what you pay for.  Free internet templates or programs you can buy off the shelf at OfficeMax are probably okay if you’re single and have nothing to leave behind.  Add children to the mix and you really should hire an attorney to help you.

So get going!

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