Preparing Your Children to Manage The Estate You Plan to Bestow Upon Them
Kansas Estate Planning Attorney Offers A Road Map for Preparing Your Children to Manage The Estate You Plan to Bestow Upon Them
An essential yet often overlooked aspect of estate planning is discussing your estate plan with your family. If your family is unaware of how you with to manage and distribute your assets, they may encounter difficulties in carrying out your wishes once you have passed away. A written estate plan is vital to ensuring that your wealth and resources are disposed of in accordance with your wishes. However, without the requisite knowledge regarding your estate plan, family members could be ill-prepared to manage and receive the gifts that it bestows upon them.
Many children are not taught about managing money when they are young. It’s easier for kids to learn about managing money when they are little and do not have to concern themselves with actually handling it. When children do receive information from parents about how money works and how to manage it well, they enjoy increased financial literacy in comparison to their peers who do not receive that kind of instruction. No matter how old your children are, you can begin teaching them about money in age-appropriate ways, which will certainly pay off later on.
Some of the basic conversations that parents can have with their children regarding money management include talking about what wealth is, and why it is important to you. Those conversations are a fantastic opportunity to share your values with your children so that they can learn what is important to you and you can learn what’s important to them. It’s good to have these conversations when they arise naturally, as opposed to sitting everyone down to have “the talk” about money.
When your family has a basic understanding of the role of wealth in the context of family life, talk with family about the plans for your family’s wealth. In doing so, you may notice opportunities for the children to make age-appropriate contributions to the discussion about how your family plans to use their wealth, such as helping select an organization to receive a charitable gift from the family. If you have a financial advisor, you might want to introduce them to your family at some point in time and explain their role in managing your family’s wealth.
Only you know what kind of approach is likely to work best for your family, whether they are likely to engage in more formal meetings or whether they prefer to talk in less formal situations. As you begin the process of talking about money with your family, you are likely to be able to figure out which next steps to take in that direction, and when. If you would like to schedule a consultation with a Kansas estate planning attorney, please call the law office of J. Joseph Weber, P.A. today. Our location in Wichita is open weekdays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We sometimes offer weekend or evening hours by appointment, and the opportunity to connect with us online through our website.