How to select a guardian…

Naming a guardian is the toughest estate planning decision a young family will need to make. If you fail to indicate who you would like to serve as the guardian in your Will, then the court will make the decision for you. That is why every family with young children needs to have a Will regardless of their financial situation. Otherwise, you risk the wrong person becoming the guardian of your minor children. It is important to note that the court will still be involved to make sure the best interest of the child is being served in any case, but the court will look to your Will first in order to make such a decision.

How should your Trust distributions be structured for beneficiaries?

When setting up a trust, you may be concerned about how to structure trust distributions for your beneficiaries after you (the grantors) are no longer living. In other words, what is the appropriate age to distribute trust assets to a particular beneficiary? Should the distributions be split up so they don’t get everything at once? If they do split up distributions, what ages should such distributions take place and in what percentages? What if a beneficiary needs the money earlier than anticipated?