Legal Preparation Before Having A Baby

You’re having a baby!  Congratulations!

You will spend the next 9 months planning and planning and planning some more.  You will research cribs and carseats, reading customer reviews until your eyes cross. You will interview an obstetrician, a doula, a midwife, a pediatrician, a lactation consultant and a nanny.  You will register for hundreds of household gadgets, and spend hours inhaling the intoxicating scent of Dreft baby soap.

But how about legal preparation?

Adding to your family brings equal parts joy and responsibility.  Ahead of your family’s expansion, consider:

1. A Last Will and Testament.  In a Will you can designate guardians to care for your child in the event your child is a minor at the time of your death.  A Will also allows you to designate a trustee to preserve any assets you leave to your child, and care for him of her financially.

2. An Advance Directive and Appointment of Healthcare Agent.  Particularly important for a woman giving birth, in this document you name a healthcare agent to make medical decisions on your behalf, if you are unable to make them yourself, and also details your end-of-life wishes.  Most hospitals and birthing centers require this document upon admission for birth.
3. Life Insurance.  You will rest easier knowing that you are providing for your family, even if you are not present to provide care.

The Law Firm of Fick & May has regularly prepared estate plans for expanding families, and would welcome the opportunity to assist you.