One of the Hardest Estate Planning Decisions

My wife had our first child when I was 32 years old.  Holding that sweet little girl in my arms was amazing - the first newborn I'd ever held (heck, probably only the second baby I'd ever held!).  However, the overwhelming wonder and love I felt was accompanied by an equally overwhelming sense of responsibility: all of a sudden it's not just the two of us - there's someone else's welfare to consider.  The idea of planning for bad stuff quickly became more urgent.  

Now, I think everybody ought to have some simple advance directives, both medical and financial, just in case (after all, when you need it, it's too late to get it).  However, parents of young children have an extra burden: who's going to raise those punkins if the parents die before the kids reach the age of majority?

It's not a fun thing to contemplate, but it happens, and closing your eyes to the possibility - failing to plan - puts your children at risk of going into the system.  You know, the "We'll take them and place them with some very nice foster parents" system, especially if her family and his are fighting over who gets them.  Tragically, this happens more often than you'd think, especially when young parents either 1) just don't want to think about it (denial, river, etc.) or 2) can't agree on who will raise them ("Your brother? Really?"), or 3) don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, so they just convince themselves that the family will pull together and do what's best for the kids.  HEY!  Why aren't YOU doing what's best for your kids?!  Parents, make the hard decision, make wills that name guardians for your minor children and put that nagging worry to rest.  And then just enjoy the gift that God gave you.

Me holding my first child's first child, Ezekiel Thomas Mangum, on the day of his birth.