Are You A New Grandparent? Then Estate Planning Should Be On Your To-Do List

The birth of a first grandchild is an exciting time. It’s wonderful to see your family expanding and it’s great to see your own children getting to experience being parents, just like you did.

But it can also make you think. The future holds a lot of unknowns. How prepared are you for that future and what do you need to do? This is one of the times in life when you really want to consider estate planning to make sure that you have addressed everything properly.

What can an estate plan accomplish?

One of the biggest benefits of making a comprehensive estate plan is that you could leave money directly to this new grandchild. Rather than leaving it to your own children or simply letting your family figure everything out after you pass away, you could create a trust fund or something of this nature that can provide for your grandchild’s future. For instance, many grandparents create a trust that pays for their grandchild’s eventual college education.

One important thing to remember is that this type of estate planning is not just helping your grandchild. It also helps your children. Perhaps they thought that they would have to save up their own money over the next two decades to pay for their child’s education. Providing that gift to your grandchild ensures that they have the money, and it also takes a lot of pressure off of your own children and gives them some level of financial freedom.

Your family becomes more complex

Another reason to do estate planning at this time is simply because things are more complex the more members there are in your family. You don’t want anything to get overlooked or have someone feel like they got left out because they weren’t left any assets. You may even want to think of this as a final way that you can show your grandchild how much you love and care for them. You’re a big part of their life now, and creating the proper estate plan means that you can continue to be a huge part of their life for years or decades to come, even if you are no longer directly around to provide that affection and assistance.

If you are interested in moving forward with estate planning at this time, carefully consider the steps you’ll need to take.