1. Authorize someone to act or engage in legal, financial and /or business transactions when you are unable. A Power of Attorney allows someone to take care of your financial, business and legal affairs if you are alive but disabled, out of the country or just not up to it because of illness.
2. Authorize someone to act on your behalf, advocate for you and make medical decisions for you when you are unable. A Health Care Directive is a must have document today. things happen fast in a medical emergency and the decisions are difficult and emotional. having someone designated to act in your behalf and make sure that you receive the treatment that you desire or that you are not forced into treatment that you do not want is so very important.
3. Decide who gets your assets. In your will or revocable living trust you get to decide who gets your assets. Maybe there is not a reason to treat all of your children equally, Maybe one of your children has some special needs or special circumstances surrounding their lives, Maybe you have special people in your life who you would like to leave a portion of your estate to. if you die without a will, the decision as to who gets your assets is not your own and can be troublesome. if you are single and your parents are still living your assets would go to them. This may not be ideal depending on their situation. Taking all of that into consideration it is s important to have a document that directs your assets to the appropriate people.
4. Who will raise your children if you cannot. A will is the only way to appoint a guardian for your minor children. If both of the children's parents are deceased, without a will appointing a guardian, the courts will choose who should raise your children. Your family members may not be your first choice and if they are, which one(s)? This issue causes much stress and strife not only for the family members arguing over who gets to take the kids or who doesn't, but it also causes stress and anxiety for your children at an already difficult time.
5. How your assets will be distributed to your children. Whether your children are minors or adults you may want to to give them some of your assets right away and you may not. You can give some or all of your assets to your children outright and let them do what they may with the money and investments. You can have the funds held for them until age 21 in a Uniform Gift to Minors Act account. if this is your route, they would receive their share of your assets outright at 21 , again with no direction from you for their use or you can establish a Trust for your children. a trust usually allows for distributions on behalf of your children under certain circumstances and a gradual release of your funds to them outright over time. the time frame for release of funds can be short or long. I have had client delay total distribution to their children well into their 40s to protect the children from creditors, business failures and potential divorce or disability.
6. Decide who will manage the funds for your children. if you put the funds into a Uniform Gifts to Minors Act account for your children, you will need to choose someone to be in charge of these funds. If you leave funds outright to minor children, the court will most likely appoint a guardian of the estate to watch over those funds or you can name someone to do that for you and lastly if you put the funds for your children in a trust, you will need to name a Trustee to be in charge of the assets until they are completely distributed to the kids. You will want someone who can monitor the investment performance of the funds and also help teach your children about money and spending the way that you might have if you were still with them. This should be a trusted friend or relative and you may even want to consider a corporate trustee such as a bank or trust company so that none of your friends or family are in any way seen as the bad guy by a child who does not get what they want!
7. Decide when your children will receive distributions of your assets. It was alluded to above that you may want to delay the distribution of assets to your children for many reasons and have them wait until well into adulthood to receive large distributions. This is not always a bad idea. if your children are minors or even college aged at the time that a trust would be established for them, it maybe wise to delay distribution t o insure that they work and learn the value of the dollars that they work for , that they make sure that their friends and loved ones love them for who they are and not what they have and to protect them from any creditors. Money held in a trust is generally free from creditors demands. Also spreading out distributions of large portions of the trust over time is helpful as your children will have different needs and different spending habits over the course of their life. a 21 year old, a 35 year old and a 490 year old all spend money differently and have different priorities in their lives.
8. Decide for what purposes your children will have access to the assets. As to the purposes for distribution a child can almost always receive a distribution for health, education , maintenance and general support . you can also designate other events or items to have the trust funds pay for or contribute towards such as a wedding or buying a home. you can also place restrictions or rewards on the funds. One trust I am familiar with required the child to have drug test before his annual distribution was given and if he failed the test or had been in a rehab clinic within six months of the distribution date , he did not receive it. Another trust rewarded a child for taking a not for profit career by awarding her a distribution of two times her W2 salary. The children of the same family who did not work for a not for profit company were given only 1x their W2 income from the trust.
Most Americans are not in a situation of worrying about paying estate taxes upon their passing. In Minnesota you can pass your heirs, charities and special loved ones up to 1 Million dollars before ever having to pay estate taxes. The IRS allows you to pass up to another 4 Million dollars upon your death before worrying about being taxed at the Federal level. many people ask me with a smirk on their face- "Why do I need to bother with a will or estate plan? - I will never have to pay taxes". 
