But I already know who the guardian will be?
Great! But I still want you to read through the checklist, because these things are relevant whether or not you are alive, and because I want you to encourage your guardian and yourself in these areas.
These topics are important
We looked at these topics because they are relevant to parenting, and life in general.
These are all things that are relevant to you and your parenting journey now, and you could be doing something about that now.
What does that have to do with now?
What if you encouraged your chosen guardian in all of these areas? What if you encouraged your guardian to seek help when they needed it, what if next time you need help you reached out to the guardian for that help?
What if you said to the guardian that you wanted to sit down and listen to them in relation to their parenting methods, really listen, you think they are a good parent and you would love to hear how other people go about doing the same stuff?
By encouraging others, you encourage yourself
The process of encouraging another person is good for you, both in terms of learning to take your own advice (when was the last time you asked for help) and the positive benefits to you in connecting with and encouraging another human being. Also, these are all important topics, topics that it is useful to think through.
You are more likely to finish the job
If you are talking with your child's guardian about all of these things then it is more likely that you will finish all of the things that I have encouraged you to do in this chapter, not just choosing a guardian but writing a letter of wishes, setting up the email account, that sort of thing.
Estate Planning is overwhelming
Preparing a Will when you have children comes with a lot of decisions, who should be the guardian for my children, what should I tell them, should they control the kids' trust, should they be a beneficiary of the trust, should I tell my family who I have chosen, should I tell my kids? What is a letter of wishes and how does it apply to my kids? Many of the steps we will talk about can be done by you, once you know why and how.
What if your kids are older, can you appoint a guardian for a 17 year old, or a 20 year old? What age should they be before they get the money? What if they need the money before that point?
Would you like to join my free Facebook group where we are discussing all of this, and I have provided a checklist to help you to work through all of the decisions yourself.