Young parents are the group most likely to put off estate planning and the group with the most at stake. If you have minor children, your estate plan is not primarily about money. It answers two questions no one else should answer for you: who raises your kids if you can’t, and who manages what you leave them until they’re ready.

If You Don’t Choose a Guardian, a Judge Will

If both parents die or become incapacitated without naming a guardian, a Florida circuit judge selects one — often choosing among competing family members who each believe they are the right choice. The judge has never met you. They don’t know that your sister shares your values and your brother-in-law doesn’t, or that your parents love the kids dearly but can’t physically keep up with a six-year-old. A will naming a preneed guardian (Florida also allows a standalone Declaration Naming Preneed Guardian under section 744.3046) puts your choice in front of the court with a statutory presumption behind it.

An 18-Year-Old With a Lump Sum Is Not a Plan

Without planning, a minor child’s inheritance typically lands in a court-supervised guardianship of the property: annual accountings, court approval for expenditures, bond premiums, and attorney involvement until the child turns 18 — at which point the entire remaining balance is handed to a brand-new adult in a lump sum. Add a life insurance policy and the number can be substantial.

A simple testamentary trust inside your will (or a revocable living trust) solves this. You pick the trustee, set the ages and milestones for distributions — college, 25, 30 — and authorize the trustee to spend for health, education, and support in the meantime. No court supervision, no lump sum on a teenager’s birthday.

The Beneficiary Form Trap

Many parents unintentionally undo their own planning by naming a minor child directly as the beneficiary of life insurance or a retirement account. Insurers will not pay a minor; the result is a court guardianship for that money even if your will was perfect. The fix is to name your trust (or use the correct custodial designation) so the proceeds flow into the structure you built.

Don’t Forget the Living Documents

A complete parent’s plan also includes a durable power of attorney and health care surrogate designation for each parent — because incapacity is statistically more likely than death during your working years — and, for many families, designation of a health care surrogate for the minor children so a trusted adult can authorize medical care when you’re traveling.