Had anyone started a Will yet? For their babies.

Question

I know this is dark and something no one wants to think about… But I live in a state that unless everything is written in a will, the children go directly to the system instead of family (in the event of you and your spouses passing). So needless to say, I just learned that we have to have it documented just in case! We are in our 20s and this is our first child, so we have never even started discussing a will. How do we get this started? Is it something you can do yourself, or is there a certain place you have to go to get it made? Thx ahead for any advice. Want to make sure we know our kiddos will have a good future in the unlikely event that we both are not around
**please only reply if you have helpful advice on how to get this process started - there is no benefit to telling us that we’re not “adulting” by not having one, or belittling us for not having one yet. I posted here to receive help from other mommas as clearly we learned that we need to start this process**

Answer

You should have a living will regardless of where you live. And the fact that you don't already have one is crazy to me. Ours were made long before our daughter was even born. That's just a basic part of adulting to me. We did ours through our attorney.

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Following! I’m also in my 20s, newly married and expecting my first child soon. Just wanted to let you know you aren’t alone, I just started looking into getting one set up as well!

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I think you have to get to a lawyer.  Not sure if you can do it your self.  It’s good to talk before going so you can answer the questions.

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Yes we are making one this fall. We also have life insurance, disability insurance and healthy savings. My coworker’s husband recently died and she’s lost every single thing she owns because they didn’t have insurance or savings. Their house, cars, etc all gone to the bank.

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We are getting ready to do ours. You can do it yourself just look up your states laws. Lawyers will be more expensive but if you have a notary sign it its much cheaper. You typically have to have at least 2 witnesses though

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When my husband and I got married we went to a lawyer and created a Trust. It’s a huge legal document which outlines everything, including giving each other the right to essentially “pull the plug” on each other if either one of us becomes brain dead, plus it says who will have legal guardianship of our future children, and what happens to our money, etc. The benefit of a Trust over a Will is that there is no probate tax with a Trust. We have also put all of our money accounts into the Trust so that if something happens to one of us, the other will more easily have access to the remaining money. 
If you choose to only have a Will I believe you still have to go to a lawyer to make it a legal document.

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Yes you definately should make one at the very least to appoint a guardian in case something happens to you and the father. You can do it yourself and get it notarized in my state (Ca) but Check your state just to make sure.

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I'm not sure what it's like in your state, but in Canada you can buy a Will Kit for $20 from office supplies stores like Staples. You may have to get the documents notarized once they're completed, but that's only like $50.
My mom went to a lawyer to get her will written up and it cost her over $3,000.
We're planning on getting the kit!

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My mom went to an estate planning informational meeting and learned about a guardianship form you can complete yourself online. You likely have to have it notorized and make sure it is legally binding in your state. I just googled it and did find it. I haven't truly looked into it yet but need to as well. Hopefully there will never be a need for it at all but like you said, it's important to think about.

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I think it depends on your state. We haven't actually written one yet but we've talked about it and it's in our plans for finalize soon. Here we can just write our something and have it notarized. We don't own a home so ours is pretty simple.

Had anyone started a Will yet? For their babies.

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