A Basic Estate Plan for Children uses two separate documents to manage your estate:  1) a last will and testament is used to direct distribution of your property; and 2) a separate revocable trust is used to manage assets for your children until they reach an age specified by you. 

The purpose of this arrangement is to create a comprehensive estate plan to protect children at a lower cost than a Living Trust Plan.  However, probate is required to administer the last will and testament.  Therefore, the overall cost of administration is somewhat higher.  The other documents that are part of this plan may be used without probate. 

These documents are included with a Basic Estate Plan for Children:

• Last will & testament
• Separate revocable trust for support of children
• All documents needed by the trustee to administer the trust (trustee instructions, acceptance of trust, certificate of trust, notice to beneficiaries, and notice to creditors)
• Power of attorney
• Healthcare directive
• Appointment of guardian
• Appointment of funeral representative
• Estate planning roadmap

A trust for children can be "testamentary" or "living".  A testamentary trust is incorporated within the terms of a last will and testament.  A living trust is a separate legal arrangement to manage and distribute property.  

A Basic Estate Plan for Childen includes a living trust.  A living trust has several advantages over a testamentary trust:

• Provides a low-cost method to manage property for children
• Simplifies designation of beneficiaries for life insurance and retirement accounts
• Simplifies management of property for the children by a trustee
• Provides faster access to funds to support children and pay bills

A Basic Estate Plan for Children is suitable for anyone who meets these criteria:

• Does not desire to avoid probate
• Has 1 or more children (or plans to)
• Has relatively simple estate planning needs
• Needs a complete estate plan for children at a lower cost than our Living Trust Plan

A Basic Estate Plan for Children is designed to provide these benefits (which may vary in each case):

• Reduce upfront planning costs
• Maximize tax deferral for retirement accounts (401k or IRA) passed to children
• Simplify designation of beneficiaries for life insurance and retirement accounts
• Simplify management of assets for children by a trustee
• Coordinate assets to work with estate planning documents for maximum benefit
• Designate any number of beneficiaries, and the age at which they will receive property
• Designate personal property to be given to specific persons
• Provide care and support for beneficiaries
• Protect property from waste by beneficiaries
• Protect property from beneficiaries' creditors
• Disinherit specific persons
• Manage property for persons under disability or with substance abuse problems
• Appoint an executor to handle probate proceedings
• Appoint a trustee to manage property for beneficiaries
• Appoint an agent under power of attorney to make financial decisions, and handle digital assets
• Appoint a patient advocate to make medical decisions, including withdrawal of life support
• Appoint a guardian to care for minor or adult children
• Appoint a funeral representative to carry out your funeral and burial instructions
• Prevent family disputes

We provide the following services with this plan:

• Consultation to create your plan
• Custom document drafting
• Consultation to review documents
• Witness and notarize documents
• Document binding
• Scan documents to flash drive
• Delivery of original documents and copy on flash drive
• Follow-up consultations as necessary to implement plan