You might have heard in the past that it is extremely important to put together the most basic of estate planning tools; a will if you have children. If you pass away without a will, the state is responsible for making many of the decisions about your property and who will take care of your kids.

Putting together your own will after sitting down with an estate planning lawyer gives you more of a say about the property that you will leave behind to your kids and who is appointed to take care of them. There are five primary reasons you need to consider using a will in your estate planning. These include:

• A will enables you to name a guardian for your minor children if something were to happen to you or to you and your partner. This opinion can be extremely important if there are differing opinions in your family about who the guardian should be.
• A will allows you to name a guardian for the finances of the children. A person will also have to be appointed to take care of your children’s finances if you pass away.
• You can decide who will wrap up your estate and serve as an executor.
• You can use your will to set up long term management for the property that you pass on to your children.
• A will determines who will receive what and who should get nothing. If you have specific wishes about how your property is to be passed on to your children, a will is the most appropriate way to do this.

Your executor will have to make judgment calls about certain types of your property but hiring an experienced estate planning lawyer can help you to address many of these questions and concerns promptly.