Page 2 - White Paper-Estate Planning for Young Families

Having your first child is a time of many “firsts,” most of them joyful, some of them
exhausting. For many new parents, the last thing you want to think about in this
time of new life is the end of yours, but somewhere in the back of your head is a
nagging worry about what will happen to these amazing little humans if something
were to happen to you and your spouse.

The good news is that understanding your options and putting a plan in place to

protect your family is not as hard as you think, and once it is done you can silence
that voice in the back of your head. This paper will lay out the most common
concerns of young families, and some examples of how you might address those
concerns.

Understanding the Status Quo: What Will Happen Without an Estate Plan

It is important to know that, even if you don’t have an estate plan, the law has a

default plan that tracks what the state presumes are your wishes. There are many
different factual scenarios set forth in the statute, but here are the most common:

• If you are married, and your only children are also the children of your spouse,
your spouse will inherit 100% of your assets.
• If you are unmarried and have children, your children will inherit 100% of

your assets.
• If you are married and have any children who are not also your spouse’s
children, your spouse will get the first $100,000 of your estate and ½ of the
remaining assets, and all of your children will share the other ½ of your assets

equally.

There are also some assets that will pass outside of probate. For example, if you and
your spouse jointly own your home, the surviving spouse automatically becomes the
owner of the property. If you have life insurance policies, retirement funds, or
investments that allow you to designate a “payable on death” recipient, those assets
will similarly transfer to whomever you designate.

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