When you are a parent of young children there is not always a lot of time to think about yourself when you are juggling work, school/nursery life and running a house.
Often, the thought of making a Will or Lasting Power of Attorney will not even cross your mind, but it is so important to make sure that you have these in place to provide for your children should the worst happen.
As a parent of two young children myself, I take comfort knowing that I have a Will and Lasting Powers of Attorney in place – particularly as I love to ride my bike and sometimes manage a ‘kid-free’ weekend away! I would encourage any other parent to do the same for peace of mind and to make things easier should anything happen.
The importance of a Will as parents of young children
A Will allows you to make provision for who should inherit your property and money after death, but it can also be used to confirm who should look after that money for your children until they are old enough to have it themselves.
As parents of young children, we obviously hope that they will grow up with the ability to manage money well, but this is no guarantee.
The default age for a child to inherit is 18, and a lot of parents feel that this is still a very young age to be inheriting potentially thousands of pounds, and maybe even hundreds of thousands if there is a property involved!
That being the case, parents often take comfort in having a Will that delays the age of inheritance to somewhere between 18 and 25 years but gives the trustees (the people who you choose to look after this money for your children) the ability to provide for your children’s housing, education and maintenance from that money in the meantime.
Wills can also be used to appoint Guardians to look after any children who are under 18. If parents die without appointing Guardians, then it is often the Court that will decide who should look after your children, and there is a risk that this person wouldn’t have been who you would have chosen.
Wills are also great for protecting assets for children against their surviving parent remarrying or changing their Will in the future. Of course, if you were to die young, then there is a real possibility that your surviving spouse/partner might go on to meet someone else later in life and potentially have more children.
Importance of Lasting Powers of Attorney for parents of young children
Of course, its not only death that can completely upend our lives, but also the loss of mental capacity through an accident or illness.
Lasting Powers of Attorney can be prepared to make sure that there are people of your choosing in place to make decisions about your finances and health, if there comes a time when you either can’t make these decisions for yourself, or you need help in doing so.
Lasting Powers of Attorney for Property & Financial Affairs are particularly important for parents of young children to ensure that money can still be accessed to pay the bills and pay for all the other things that our children need – clothes, clubs, school trips etc.
Next Steps...
If you’d like to discuss your Will and Lasting Powers of Attorney with me, please call 01283 214231 or email c.day@timms-law.com.
For more information about Wills and LPA’s, please visit our webpage here.
