A common reason clients seek estate planning is to take care of their children in the following ways:
APPOINTING GUARDIANS - If you have minor children when you pass away, your will can appoint a guardian to care of your children. Otherwise, a court will appoint someone that you may not trust with this responsibility.
RESPONSIBLE ASSET MANAGEMENT - A trust can be personalized to fit each family's goals/needs. For example, some clients do not want to give money to a child who abuses drugs and/or alcohol, so we can write certain provisions in the trust to address these problems. Another example: some clients do not like giving their children a lot of money all at once (especially if they are young and/or irresponsible), so we can write certain provisions in the trust to limit how the money is spent.
ASSET PROTECTION - A trust can be written to protect the money that you give to your children from divorce, creditors and lawsuits (to an extent). For example, some clients worry that money given to their child can be taken from them in a divorce, but we can write provisions in the trust to protect your child.
AVOIDING PROBATE - A probate is a yearlong (on average) court involved process, which can be very expensive and a burden to your children. We can help you so your children could avoid this unnecessary burden.
SPECIFIC GIFTS - If you don't choose how your assets are distributed, California law will pick for you, which may be different than what you want.