To Do List for New Parents

Video

Hi folks, it’s Andy Stautz at Stautz. I’m back for a follow-up talk about an Indiana estate planning topic. So just before this, I recorded a talk on why new parents need a will. So you should watch that or read it. This follow up is more of a to do list. Like OK, what all is on your plate here in terms of estate planning?  

Item #1: Get a Will

OK so, you know, “get a will” is a pretty easy piece of instruction: either call an estate planning attorney or go to one of the do-it-yourself things and do it yourself. (At your own risks there.)  

Item #2: Get your ancillary documents: POA, Healthcare, etc.

Also, though, there are some other related things, so #2: think about your ancillary documents. So not the will itself, but you know, financial power of attorney, a healthcare advance directive, right? It makes sense to think about all of it at once and as one package. I’ve talked about those documents elsewhere. I’m not going to go through what they do right now.  

Item #3: Talk About Your Values

That’s one thing: to do a values conversation, right? When you’re doing planning, you need to talk to your spouse. And your children. I mean, obviously we’re talking about a situation where you’ve got a baby, so maybe not there, but you know, talk to your spouse. What do we want it to look like? You know, what are we worried about? What can we prevent? What are our values? End of life decisions. Worst case scenario decisions: who raises our kid if we’re gone decisions? You know. Make it a date night. Mom can drink again so you know, open a bottle of wine and sit down and talk about it. It will be good.  

Item #4: Check Beneficiary Designations

Other non-will, non-probate non-”other documents.” But just like getting your property affairs in order. So a big one is beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts. For a lot of young couples I know, for us, right, our brokerage account, you know 401(k), IRA, that’s the biggest single piece of property we’ve got. And if you’ve got a beneficiary designation, it’s not a probate asset. It’s not controlled by your will.

So log on to your portal, your vanguard, your fidelity, whatever, and make sure it’s correct. Because some of those providers automatically, like, cancel your old designations if you get married or if you have a kid, but not all of them do so, so go check. Make sure it’s who you want it to be. You know, probably spouse as your primary, and then your backup might be, I don’t know, your parents, if they’re still living. You know, you can do it to a trust if you’re doing sophisticated planning, but we’re just talking like basics. Make sure it’s correct. Same thing with life insurance. If you carry life insurance.  

Item #5: Figure Out How Your Assets are Titled

And then the other thing would be, relatedly, organizing title. Make sure you know how you own things, so if you if one of you owned a house before you got married, you know, are you both on the mortgage? Are you both on the deed? What about your cars? Same thing. Because anything you own jointly with your spouse also avoids probate and just goes to your spouse. So you might want that, you might not want that. I’ve talked in other videos about how joint tenancies work and what they might do or not do.  

How Much Work Is This?

But just kind of, in my mind, when I tell new parents “get a will, you need a will,” it’s not just, you know, your three page document with your signature on it. It should be a good reminder to kind of, like, get everything in order, right? Just sit down and do it. Really. It might only take a few hours. Honestly like 2 hours maybe. Call an attorney. Hey, when do you have a consultation? next week? you go to that. That’s… call that one hour. And then you go home and you do your homework. And you fix all your beneficiary designations and you make a binder. Let’s call that another hour, and then you come back and then you sign the will and your documents. Right, like two hours, 2 1/2 hours.  

And it will save you tons and tons of time and money and stress. UM. Whether or not you “need it,” right? It’s being able to sleep. It’s knowing. OK, my kids are fine. I’ve done what I can do to make that easy for them.  

Conclusion: You’ll Feel Better, I Promise

So that that’s kind of your list, you know, get the main documents, get the ancillary documents, fix your beneficiary designations, make sure you know how things are titled, and talk about it with your spouse and with, you know, if you’re designating a guardian like. Hey, would you raise my kids, if I’m gone, that kind of thing.  

So do those things. It’ll feel good and you know, people are relieved to get it done and it’s the responsible thing to do so. Hope that makes it easier to kind of see. OK, that’s what you’re dealing with. That’s how long it will take. Don’t put it off. Alright, give me a call if you need help with any of that. I hope that was helpful. Bye for now.