Critical Estate Planning For New Parents

The moment you become a parent, your world changes. You face new responsibilities. You think of someone else first with every decision you make.

That outlook should extend to your estate planning. Maybe you never really considered it before since you did not have a family; with that new baby in your life, you have someone who you will leave behind. Don’t you want to make sure his or her life goes as smoothly as possible? It is time to consider estate planning carefully.

Your Legal Options

Here at D’Alessandro & D’Alessandro in Basking Ridge, we have 35-plus years of experience. We are a local firm, so we are connected to this community. We know exactly how you feel planning for your loved ones, and we can help. Let us guide you through this process as you consider issues like:

• Passing on physical assets such as your family home
• Passing on financial assets, from bank accounts to investments
• Ensuring that your life insurance pays out properly
• Setting up a legal guardianship for a child who is still a minor
• Drafting advance directives and powers of attorney for legal and medical decisions
• Creating a trust for a child who is still a minor and picking someone to act as the trustee
• Planning for a child who has special needs
• Planning for the child’s future, considering things like college tuition
• Planning for funeral arrangements and expenses

Remember that estate planning with minor children is different from estate planning with adult children. Rather than just leaving the money to the child directly, for instance, you may want to leave it in a trust that does not pay out until the child is 18 or older, or you at least want to have a guardian in place who can help take on that parental role and control spending.

This needs to be done carefully, and we can help set up the ideal plan for you and your young family. Make sure your loved ones are in good hands. Come to us.

Working With Us

To talk to our attorneys about estate planning for new parents, please give our lawyers a call at 908-766-5400 or contact us online. We will be happy to set up an initial consultation.