Essential Pre-Birth Baby Admin

As soon as you know that you have a baby on the way, your top priority is to make the pregnancy a healthy and happy one. Your next priority will be to prepare for the birth and bringing your newborn home. Part of these preparations should involve taking care of essential, pre-birth baby admin.

Update your wills

Making a will is your opportunity to specify what you’d like done with your property in the event of your death. Once you become a parent, your property includes your children. If you die without a will, the government will apply standard procedures to determine what happens to your estate. This will include deciding who should have care of your children.

Spare your family the stress of having to find a child custody lawyer and fight their case in family court. Spare your children the potential stress of a spell in foster care, or in a children’s home. Make a legally-acceptable will specifying what should happen to your children in the event of your death.

Boost your life insurance

For most parents, life insurance is the only way to make sure that their children (and partner) will be financially comfortable in the event of their death. When a new baby comes along, you need to think about making sure he or she will be taken care of for at least 18 years. Ideally, you should be able to leave them enough money to get them through college too as well as school.

It can be useful to look at your life insurance at the same time as you look at your wills. There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, your lawyer may be able to advise you on how to minimize your tax liability on any payout. Secondly, you may wish to have the funds paid out into a trust so you have some control over how they are spent.

Increase your general insurance

This one will depend on your personal situation. In general, however, you will probably want to increase your insurance cover to some extent when you have a new baby. For example, you might want to look at some form of income-protection cover or extra medical cover. Basically, if you were prepared to take your chances before, you should probably get insurance now.

Create a power of attorney

Power of attorney basically allows another person to act on your behalf if you are incapacitated. Depending on what your PoA says, your chosen attorney can make decisions regarding your healthcare, finances, and legal situation. There is a strong case for arguing that all adults should have a PoA. It is vital that parents do.

If anything happens to you, your partner (or other next of kin) will have to do their best to look after you and your children. This can be a huge responsibility and can leave them mentally, physically, and financially drained. Having a PoA in place can make it much easier for them to get you the care you need (and want) and to take key decisions in line with your wishes.