To will or not to will… 8 June 2010
In my MBA class this week we are discussing the Last Will and Testament as well as the Living Will.
Do you have a will?
We made one shortly after we were married in 2007. When we had our daughter the end of 2009 we began discussing who we would like to name as her guardian. And when we settled on a guardian we sat them down and really really had a sincere talk with them about the responsibility of taking our daughter. We have yet to make things official in writing, though, since we are still discussing some of the financial details included in a will.
Two other good suggestions I’ve researched on choosing guardians for you child are:
(1) designate a “backup” guardian in case your first choice can’t or won’t take up the responsibility.
Also (2) include with your will a letter to your child’s guardian detailing important things to you as a parent that you want them to strive for as they raise your child. I had not thought of this initially, but as my husband and I discussed it, we found there were A LOT of specific things that were very important to us in how we would want our daughter cared for should we both pass away. For instance, we want her to be STRONGLY encouraged to receive a college education. As in FORCE HER TO EDUCATE HER BRAIN. 
We want her to have extended visits at least twice per year with my parents and family, seeing as how we’ve chosen a guardian from my husband’s family. We also want our daughter to travel Europe and to some additional places that are really special to me and my husband. There are some religious ties we want established for our daughter while she’s young. And so on…
The letter isn’t meant to spell out exactly how to raise our daughter, but it is a place to put a lot of our hopes and dreams and wishes for her life that her guardians may not know about without the letter. We also think it would be a good idea to include a letter specifically addressed to our daughter telling her about us and about how much we love her; how she changed our lives, how we wish so much happiness for her., and how we will be together again someday.
In my research on wills, it is fascinating how much preparation can improve a tragic situation. While we haven’t fully completed the process, my husband and I are working on it and realize how important it is to leave our affairs in good order for our daughter and for our families.
