As well as ensuring that your children are financially secure, our services can ensure that your younger children are immediately put into the care of somebody that you know and trust.
We always advise that you write a will as soon as you become a parent to ensure that, if you should unexpectedly pass away, there is no chance of them missing out on their inheritance. By reviewing your will every few years (or when you have another child), ensuring that the wishes held within your will are as up-to-date as possible.
The impact of a parent dying can be devastating for even older children, which is why we think it is crucial for parents to prepare for the worst as soon as possible – the last thing they need when going through an inevitable traumatic period is to have to deal with the complicated and potentially stressful case of inheritance.
The best way to protect your child’s future is to appoint a legal guardian to determine who will take care of them following your passing, and set up a child trust fund to ensure they receive the correct inheritance.
Child trust fund (CTF)
A child trust fund allows your assets to be held for a period of time, allowing your beneficiaries to benefit from them at a later date.
If you want to leave your entire estate to your child, they will not be expected to inherit this at a young age – with a child trust fund you can request that the estate is made available to your child on their 18th birthday. Until then the trust fund will be held by a nominated trustee, but they will not have access to the trust. If they fail to abide by your wishes, they can be prosecuted.
If you’d like the trust to serve a specific purpose, you can request that it is used to pay for your child’s education, put towards their first home, pay for their wedding or just about anything else you would like to pay for.
A child trust fund has a number of important benefits, including:
- Peace of mind for yourself, knowing that your children will be secure following your death
- Peace of mind for your loved ones, knowing that they will have financial help in supporting your child
Appointing a guardian
When writing your will, you are given the choice of including a guardianship order – this is an important section of the document and gives you control of who takes care of your children if you pass away.
As a parent, we believe that you should be the one who decides who cares for your children – failing to include a guardianship order in your will could take this choice out of your hands.
Appointing a guardian is as simple as you’d expect it to be; simply discuss the matter with your chosen guardian and, if they are willing to take on the responsibility of looking after your children in the event of your death, the guardianship order can be added to your will.
You can arrange for your children to have more than one guardian, distributing the duty between numerous people (perhaps members of both your and your partner’s family). The responsibility can differ between guardians, meaning that you can dedicate one person to manage your child’s finances throughout their childhood and another to act as a day-to-day carer.
When a guardian is appointed in your will, you remove any risk of your children being put into short-term care following your passing and avoid any distress faced by other loved ones who will already be aware of their responsibilities – this will allow them to discuss the matter with you in detail, making sure that they carry out your wishes as closely as possible.
Complex families
In modern-day life, the concept of a family isn’t always straightforward; when it comes to divorce, second marriage and other complications, writing a will becomes even more important to the security of your child.
Your will can be amended following major incidents such as divorce or the birth of another child, ensuring that your children’s inheritance is not affected by changed circumstances.
Children do not have to be blood-relatives in order to benefit from a child trust fund; you can also set up foster child trust funds or step-children trust funds.
At Union Wills, we understand that family is important so if you were to pass away suddenly, you’d like to be assured of their security going forward without you. Whether you need help with the technical jargon, advice on the cost of a will or a greater insight into the intricacies of will writing get in contact with us via our online form.