Choosing someone to care for your children if you’re no longer able to is a deeply personal part of estate planning. The hardest part is that the person who feels right in one area may be less ideal in another. A sibling may share your values but live across the country, while a close friend who knows your children well but already has a demanding household. Rather than looking for a perfect replacement for you, focus on who could give your children a stable, loving home and

Estate planning is easy to postpone when you’re raising a young family. Work, children, household expenses and day-to-day responsibilities are already competing for your attention. Creating a will or trust isn’t exactly top-of-mind, and it’s something that can be put off until later. As your family grows, though, the decisions surrounding an estate plan become harder to ignore. Having children, buying a home and building savings introduce questions that probably weren’t par