3 Tips for Parents Diving into Estate Planning

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Event Recap

Published: Jun. 16, 2022Updated: Jul. 13, 2023

Estate planning means making vital decisions about our children’s care, our assets, and our own medical care — and it requires writing those decisions down in legal documents. The process can seem overwhelming, which is why we brought in some help!

On June 9, 2022, we went over the basics with Brianna Davidson Jarrett, an estate lawyer, Maryland’s Assistant Attorney General, and a parent of three, including a child with disabilities. Here are her top tips for fellow parents to make estate planning easier.

Work with a professional who has experience with parents in your situation

If you’re paying an attorney to draft your legal documents (and you should!), you want to make sure they have experience working with other parents raising kids with disabilities. Hear Brianna explain why in this clip:

Consider the most important estate planning decisions

Your estate plan should cover the basics of what will happen to your children and how they should be cared for when you’re no longer around. You can read all about the fundamentals of estate planning in this article that Brianna wrote for Undivided, but for a short overview of the most important decisions you’ll need to make, check out this clip:

Have confidence that you can do this!

As a parent raising a child with unique needs, you do so much for your kid, from IEP meetings to therapies to bedtime routines. Brianna promises that estate planning is no harder than all the things you’re already doing. You can do this! Listen to her encouragement in this clip:

Watch the full recording

If you missed the event or want to review what we learned, you can catch the full recording here.

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Contents

Overview

Work with a professional who has experience with parents in your situation

Consider the most important estate planning decisions

Have confidence that you can do this!

Watch the full recording

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Related Resources

The Basics of Estate Planning for Families with Dependent Children

Future and Financial Planning

What should my estate planning include as a parent of a child with a disability?

Author

Brittany OlsenUndivided Editor

An editor and cartoonist who loves using words and images to simplify and share ideas. She has ten years of experience as a copy editor and lives near Portland, Oregon. She often spends her free time going on nature walks with her dog or trying new bread recipes.

Reviewed by

Lindsay Crain, Undivided Head of Content and Community

Contributors

Brianna Davidson Jarrett, Assistant Attorney General with the Maryland Office of Attorney General
Brianna Davidson Jarrett, Assistant Attorney General with the Maryland Office of Attorney General

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