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guardian whenever possible so, even if you name someone else, the court will probably ap- 
point your "ex" as guardian. A disinterested or irresponsible parent may suddenly become 
very interested in the child when he/ she learns that guardians are entitled to be paid for their 
services. Also, many courts simply do not have the resources to monitor all guardianships 
carefully. So it's possible your "ex" may have unsupervised access to the child's inheritance. 
(Also, divorced or separated parents often unintentionally disinherit their children; see "Losing 
Control with Joint Ownership" on the next page.) 
Wouldn't a children's trust in a will prevent court control of the assets? 
It would prevent the court from controlling the inheritance after you die, but the will must be 
probated first. The children's trust is funded with your assets after your will is probated. By the 
time the assets get into the trust and expenses are paid, it could be "too little, too late" to provide 
for your children the way you had planned. 
And what if you become incapacitated due to illness or injury? Since you are still alive, your 
will can't be probated-so the children's trust can't go into effect. If a single parent becomes 
incapacitated, or if both parents become incapacitated, the parent(s) and child will probably be 
placed under control of the courts. 
Can the court take control of assets I leave to my minor child or grandchild? 
If you leave titled assets outright to a minor child in your will, make a minor a joint owner, or 
give a titled asset to a minor child, you could unknowingly be setting up a court guardianship. 
That's because minor children can be on a title, but they cannot conduct business in their own 
names. So as soon as the owner's signature is required to sell, refinance, or transact other busi- 
ness, the court will have to get involved. Only a court appointee can legally sign for the child; 
not even a parent can do it. And the court will stay involved to "protect" the child's asset(s) until 
he/ she reaches legal age. 
You could also cause a court guardianship if you list a minor as a beneficiary-for example, on 
a life insurance policy, your IRA, retirement benefits, etc. That's because the institutions that 
pay beneficiary proceeds (like an insurance company) will not knowingly pay large sums of 
money to a minor child. Nor will they pay to another person Jor the child, such as to a parent. 
They just don't want the legal responsibility and will usually insist on paying through the court. 
If you've been surprised ry some of this, you're not alone. Most people are not aware of how little control thry actuallY 
have with a wilL 
6 Losing Control by DOING NOTHING 
Doing nothing is another very common plan. Many people procrastinate and don't do anything 
for any number of reasons. They think they're too busy. Or they don't own enough. Or they're 
not old enough. Or they're confused and don't know who can help them. 
What happens if you don't do anything? If you own assets in your name and you become in- 
capacitated, the court can take control just as we explained. And when you die, your estate will 
go through probate. The only difference is that your assets will be distributed according to state 
law, which is probably not what you would have wanted. For example, in many states if you are 
married and have children, they will each receive a share of your estate. This means your spouse 
could receive only a fraction of your estate, which may not be enough for him or her to live on. 
And if you have minor children, the court will control their inheritances and it will appoint their 
guardian(s)-without knowing whom you would have chosen. 
This is probablY the worst situation. Because you have absolutelY NO control. 
6