LIFE INSURANCE FOR MINOR CHILDREN
Aug. 16, 2022
Life insurance is a key part of estate planning for families with young children. Like any part of estate planning, it can be uncomfortable for parents of young children or even older minor children to think about. The idea of life insurance is that you can be assured that your family’s needs are provided for even in the event of your death.
There are several basic reasons to purchase a life insurance policy. The first is that with a couple where one parent dies, the other parent is going to have to provide for and replace the loss of income from the deceased parent. Beyond that, with younger children, the surviving parent will have to think about increased childcare needs because another parent will not be around to take care of the children if the surviving parent is at work, away on business, etc. There will certainly be increased babysitting needs, if not something more permanent like an au pair.
There are various kinds of life insurance. Two of the basic kinds are term life insurance, which lasts for a term of 5 to 20 years, versus whole life insurance, which lasts your whole life.
In terms of deciding what kind of coverage you need, you most likely will want to assess how much your spouse or partner will need to replace your income and be able to support the children. When you are older and your children are grown, you can reassess this amount and shift your funds to other needs, like pre-paying for funeral expenses (known as “final expenses”) or paying off your debts so that your estate will not be stuck with it.
How an Attorney Can Help
Click here to Schedule a FREE Virtual Estate Planning Session. We will guide you through the entire process and help you understand what needs to be done to ensure your loved ones are taken care of.
PARENTING TIP:
It’s okay to let your children fail occasionally. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t help them when they ask. But it doesn’t mean you always have to race in to save the day. Help with their homework, yes. But if they “forget” to do their homework, then let them tell the teacher they didn’t do it and deal with the reasonable consequences. This eventually will increase their sense of self-reliance and responsibility.