Five Estate Planning Documents Parents Should Consider

 Posted on September 29, 2026 in Estate Planning

For many people, the birth of their first child is the first time they take their own mortality seriously. This naturally leads to a series of important estate planning questions: What’s the best way for us, as parents, to pass along any wealth we’ve built? Who could make difficult decisions if we’re suddenly incapacitated? What happens if we die when our children are minors? Who would manage their finances? Who could be their guardian? 

This is especially important, because leaving property to a minor child is not as simple as naming the child in a will. Young children cannot manage inherited property for themselves, and even an 18-year-old who is legally an adult may not be ready to receive a large life insurance payment, a share of a house, or a significant investment account all at once.

If you have children and are creating or updating an estate plan in 2026, the following five documents are a great place to start. Our Hillside, IL estate planning lawyer works with young families to help them plan for the future and protect their children’s inheritance.

5 Estate Planning Documents Young Families Should Have

1. A Last Will and Testament

A last will and testament states how your assets should be distributed after your death. It also names the person you want to serve as Executor, meaning the person responsible for making sure your wishes as stated in your will are met.

For parents, however, one of the most important parts of a will has very little to do with money. Illinois law allows a parent to designate someone to serve as guardian of a minor child. Under 755 ILCS 5/11-5, a parent may make that designation in a will. A court will ultimately appoint the guardian based on the child's best interests, but a parent's written choice gives the court important guidance about whom the parent trusted to raise the child.

2. A Revocable or Irrevocable Trust

A will can say who should inherit assets, but a trust gives parents much more control over how and when children receive those assets. Parents can create a revocable living trust during their lifetimes and transfer various assets into it, and they can usually remain in control of that property while they are alive.

After their deaths, a successor trustee who they named can continue managing the assets according to the instructions in the trust. This is a particularly good arrangement if parents want to keep children from receiving a large inheritance at all once the moment they become legal adults.

For example, parents may be comfortable allowing trust money to pay for college, but they may not want a 19-year-old to get unrestricted access to a $500,000 inheritance. A trust can be written so that the trustee makes distributions according to instructions from the parents.

3. Advance Directives

Advance directives allow a parent to give instructions about their own medical treatment. This includes who should make health care decisions if the parent cannot communicate. This might include: 

• Preferences for end of life comfort;
• Pain management; 
• When to withhold artificial nutrition;
• Organ donation; and, 
• Requests for specific spiritual or cultural rites. 

In Illinois, one important document is a "Power of Attorney for Health Care". The Illinois Power of Attorney Act allows a person to name an "Agent" to make health care decisions during periods when the person cannot make those decisions independently. These documents also give parents a great opportunity to talk about their wishes and values in advance.

4. Separate Guardianship Designation

A guardian can be named in a will, but parents may also benefit from having a separate guardianship designation. Illinois law allows a parent to designate a guardian in a written document outside of the will, as long as the statutory requirements are met. The designation must be witnessed by at least two qualified adult witnesses who are not the person being nominated as guardian.

Parents should also think about what would happen if their first choice could not serve as a guardian. Naming a successor guardian can prevent the children and extended family from solving difficult problems about finding care.

5. Financial Power of Attorney

A financial power of attorney deals with decisions while you are still alive. If a parent is badly injured in an accident and is unconscious for several weeks, or is mentally incapacitated due to  illness, a family’s financial life goes on. Utility, mortgage, and insurance payments still need to be paid. Someone outside the family may need access to financial accounts to keep the household running.

A financial power of attorney allows a parent to name someone to be their "Agent" to handle financial and property matters on that parent's behalf. This can be especially important in a household where one spouse manages most of the finances, or owns a business. Without appropriate legal authority, even a spouse may run into various problems accessing or managing property that is titled in the other spouse’s name

When Should Parents Update Their Estate Plans?

An estate plan created when a first child is born should be updated as other major life events happen. Children grow up, new children are born, and the person who once seemed like the obvious guardian for your children may not be the right choice however many years later. Parents also go through changes themselves. Buying a home, getting divorced, and even starting a business are all good reasons to review and update an estate plan.

Fortunately, you don’t have to completely start over every time your family’s circumstances change. Often, the initial documents still work well, and only small updates are needed. Working closely with an experienced estate planning attorney will ensure that a family’s plan matches their current life and long-term wishes.

Call an Oak Park, IL Estate Planning Attorney for Young Families

Parents don’t need to be wealthy to benefit from an estate plan. When minor children are a part of your life, the most important estate planning often has much to do with providing for their long-term care.

A highly-experienced Hillside, IL estate planning lawyer at the Law Office of Vincent C. Machroli, P.C. can prepare estate planning documents for parents that work together and honor a family’s values and wishes. Call the Law Office of Vincent C. Machroli, P.C. at 708-449-7404 to schedule a no-charge legal consultation.