Modern Estate Planning Blog

I read this story a while ago, but I was thinking about it today. In 2016, a young couple,  parents of six,  died within 24 hours of each other.  The mother died unexpectedly from a blood clot, and the father died 24 hours later as a result of a heart attack. Many feel that the stress of suddenly losing his wife caused the attack. As a Sacramento County guardianship lawyer, I’ve seen it happen before.

Today I was wondering about the six kids. The oldest three were from the mother’s first marriage, and the younger three were from her current marriage. I wonder if the father of the three oldest was able to take over raising them. I wonder if the kids were able to stay together. I wonder if the family members who came forward from all over the country were able to decide who would raise the youngest three and possibly the three oldest as well. Was there a family feud about their care? Did they get split up into six different homes?  What a nightmare!

Unfortunately, I do not know what became of these kids. My hope is that they stayed together and went to a loving family member’s home. But, can you imagine suddenly having the responsibility of raising six additional children?

Then there’s the issue of money. There was a GoFundMe page set up, and since the story went viral, I suspect they had a number of donations roll in right after the story hit the media. But what about now? Is money still available for for the children’s care, education, and medical needs?

These are the very situations that I’ve spent years helping people avoid. I commend the parents out there that take the time to legally document who will raise their children if something happens to them.  Having someone in place should tragedy strike is the greatest gift you could leave your children during the midst of their grief.

However, the majority of parents do nothing to protect their children that are counting on them to have a plan.  If this is you, please let me encourage you TODAY to take action!

We are all going to pass away eventually. Hopefully, we are old and gray and can look back on a full life. But there is a chance that something could happen when you least expect it.  If you are prepared, you will have peace of mind knowing your kids will be okay no matter what. Once that is done, you can continue on with your life loving your family without worry.

If you are ready to put a plan in place that protects your kids and ensures they would be prepared for life without you, if something happened, call our Sacramento County guardianship lawyers at (916) 241-9661 to schedule a consultation.