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Wills Protect Children's InterestsBy NEALE S. GODFREY Your will may be the most important document you ever create for your children. Not only does a will determine what happens to your financial assets, it outlines how you wish your children to be cared for until they're old enough to be on their own. In some states, children become wards of the court if their parents die without a will. And more than half of American adults don't have a will, according to legal resource Martindale-Hubbell. If you don't have a will, write your wishes down immediately. Sign and date your will, have it notarized, put it in a safe place and give copies to a trusted relative or friend. There are books and Web sites where you can get information on how to write a will. You can reduce your legal fees if you know the answers to a few simple questions:
Reassure your children that they'll be taken care of if anything happens to you and your spouse. They already understand that you carefully choose who will look after them when you are not there after school or out for the evening. Explain that a will is just an extension of that kind of planning. Even children as young as 4 may have wondered about this. From the time they are quite small, children hear terrible stories about what happens to boys and girls without parents. Think of Cinderella, Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket's Baudelaire orphans. With grade school and teenage children, you can go into more detail about the will and perhaps even tell them where it is located. Children under 7 are probably too young to listen to detailed explanations of wills. They may need to be reassured that the will probably won't be used until they are grown up. It should be reassuring to both you and your children to know a plan is in place. Make sure they are comfortable with the choice of guardian, that they understand where they'll sleep, whether they will still have their pets and what school they will attend. Once you have a will, be sure to review and update it periodically. You'll know it's time to dig it out of your safety deposit box: • If you haven't looked at it in five years. • If life circumstances change; the birth of a child, a divorce, a death in the family or if your financial profile changes. • When estate tax laws change. • When you move to another state, since laws vary from state to state. • When you buy property in a different state, since it may be subject to different laws. Neale S. Godfrey is a former bank president and expert on family finance. (Note that you can create your Will, Power of Attorney and Living Will online at http://www.PartingWishes.com, http://www.USLegalWills.com and http://www.LegalWills.ca).
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