Estate planning for minor children
If you have minor children, don’t leave them unprotected. Designate a guardian and create an estate plan that will provide for their individual needs. If that child has special needs, you will probably want to create a "special needs trust," also called a "supplemental needs trust."
as CHOOSING A GUARDIAN
You are in the best position to make the tough decisions of nominating a guardian for your minor children because no judge will ever know your family like you do. Don't leave it in the hands of a probate court judge. Hopefully, you'll discover, as many of my clients have, that making an estate plan and choosing a guardian for your children actually reduces your anxiety about the unlikely scenario of dying while your children are young.
Guardian of the person
A guardian of the person has the legal authority and responsibility to care for a child, just as a parent does. The guardian's job is to provide a child's food, shelter, education, and medical care and to ensure the child's safety, security, and comfort until the child turns 18. Guardians of the person, like parents, also end up having a lot of influence over a child's many day-to-day experiences and impact the big decisions your children make as adults.
guardian of the estate
A guardian of the estate is appointed by probate court to manage money for children until they are 18. One of the main benefits of putting together an estate plan is that you can use trusts to manage money for children until they are old enough to manage that money for themselves, which, for most kids, is long past age 18, the age when a guardianship has to end in California.
CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
If you want to help a child who may never be able to manage and invest funds without help, you face a special challenge. If that child relies on government benefits for essential services and support, inheriting money could jeopardize eligibility for those services. For most families, the key fear is losing Medicaid coverage, because their special needs child may never have a job that provides health insurance. To leave a special needs child money to live a meaningful and comfortable life, without losing the support of government programs, together we can create a "special needs trust."