No matter what, being a parent is filled with numerous responsibilities, and it takes a great deal of capital to do the job right. From keeping your children fed and making sure all of their needs are met, Maryland parents have more than enough to worry about on a day-to-day basis. But it’s important to be able to see past these superficial needs and look a bit farther into the future to ensure that your children are taken care of in the unfortunate circumstance that something were to happen to you.
It doesn’t matter what form your new parental role comes in. Whether you are the adoptive or biological parent is immaterial in the matter of estate planning. Although people are now statistically older when they start a family, they’re not necessarily any more financially well off than those who started when they were younger.
What are living documents?
There are some simple steps to follow that make it easier to start thinking about your estate plan. One of the first things you’ll want to do is prepare the aspect of estate planning commonly known as your living documents.
This is, from a legal standpoint, a way of taking care of yourself so that you’ll be able to take care of others. You have to help yourself in order to meet the needs of the children who are going to be relying on you. Your living documents are a great place to start.
This involves naming someone as a health care proxy, which is an individual who acts as your agent. It’s important that this is someone you know you can trust because it may rest on their shoulders to make big decisions for you when you are unable to make them for yourself.
Deciding how much life insurance you’ll need can be an overwhelmingly challenging decision, particularly if you’re feeling clueless. The calculation is no simple matter, but it helps when you focus on how much you think your family will need and how long you think they will need it. By honing in on those key factors, you’ll be able to make the process that much less insurmountable.