Guardianship / Naming Legal Guardians for Minor Children

69% of parents have not named legal guardians for their children. If you have minor children at home (or children who have special needs), it’s time to review your plan for their care, if and when something happens to you. It’s important to remember that if you do not legally assigna guardian who would raise your children (if something were to happen to you), then a judge will make that decision instead.   

Conservatorship / Adult Guardianship

Whether through illness, injury, or mental decline, anyone can require a guardian (also known as a conservator) to care for them if they become mentally or physically incapacitated. Unless the person has the proper estate planning in place that names a guardian, however, guardianship must be established through county probate court. Although naming a guardian for a minor child involves a somewhat similar process, obtaining adult guardianship is vastly different, especially in terms of what the court requires as proof that guardianship is warranted. 

Special Needs Planning

Estate planning for a family with special needs children comes with a complex set of financial, social, and medical issues. Ensure your child with special needs will be well taken care of when you’re no longer able to serve as the primary caregiver. Many families with a special needs child set up a Special Needs Trust to help manage future expenses without losing essential government benefits and care.

Kids Protection Plan

Offered as part of a larger Estate Plan, the Kid’s Protection Plan gives you everything you need to ensure you child’s safety, guardianship information, medical needs and other documentation are all on hand and in one place. This plan ensures that if you were to die, the first person in contact with your child would have access to all the information they need to care for their immediate needs and get them to their assigned guardian seamlessly and without intervention from Child Protective Services (CPS) or the court system.