Talking about legal planning for your family is never something up there on your list of fun things to do. However, finding yourself without a plan can be scary so there’s no time like the present to sit down and just do it.

It doesn’t matter how much money you have, if you have young children, you need to think about this. In the long run, there’s no better peace of mind than knowing you have hammered out the details of how you want your kids to be taken care of, long term as well as within the first twenty four hours of something happening. We’ve asked Kimberly Hegwood of Hegwood & Associates, P.C., a personal family lawyer, mom of two, and a licensed estate planning attorney in the state of Texas, to look at some not-so-uncommon-scenarios and tell us how parents can best to prepare for them:

Scenario #1, You Don’t Make it Home

You and your husband are in, God-forbid, a car accident driving home from work together. Both of you is either seriously incapacitated or worse. Your child is at preschool or home with a babysitter. You do not have wills in place. What happens to the children in the next 24 hours? What happens in the month following? What happens long-term?

Kimberly: The problem with traditional estate planning is that there is no provision for temporary guardians for your children, which results in a planning gap. Your children may be at home with a sitter or at day care when something happens. Since they haven’t heard from you, your care giver may end up having to call the police. Once the police are called, if the babysitter or daycare provider cannot show documentation that they have legal authority to care for your children, the police have no alternative but to call Child Protective Services (CPS). If that happens your family may have to spend thousands of dollars to gain custody of your children.

Since you don’t have wills, family members may end up battling over custody rights, and a judge who does not know you or your children, will determine who will raise your children for you.

What can you do to avoid this scenario?

Kimberly: Not only do you need to have a will or a trust, a medical power of attorney, statutory durable power of attorney and directive to physicians, but you need temporary guardianship papers for your children. 

In order to make sure your ducks are in a row, you should find an attorney that suits your needs. An estate planning attorney usually knows how to protect your family from this happening. A Personal Family Lawyer (PFL) is just such a lawyer. A good PFL can help plan for the gap that others may miss. It’s important to put in writing not only whom you want to raise to raise your children, but those that you don’t want to be considered as well. This way a judge will know that you have considered all possibilities.  Make sure you talk to the people you’d like to have raise your children as well and clearly state your preferences for them in writing. 

Related Features:

• The Importance of Writing a Will
• The Talk: Death of a Family Member
• Teaching the Virtues: Raising a Moral Child