I have been reading all these "Preparing for baby checklists" that I should have a will to say who will care for my child if anything was to happen to me or my husband. We don't really have any assets - we own two old cars and we have a house, but haven't paid too much towards the principle on our morgage yet...

Do any of you have this/do I need to do this? Did you go through a lawyer or did you use one of those computer programs? Any idea how much it would cost me?

__________________
Mom to Kaylee (10/2006) and Madalyn (1/2009)

Even if you just have something notorized stating your wishes, states will honor it. You really should do this. Unfortunatly, my oldest is now 20 and I still haven't done it, but you really should!

__________________
~Happiness is a large family~

Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. James 1:19

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24

Yes, you need a will. Do I have one?? No. It is on my list of things that I will be doing in 2007. I will go to a lawyer. There are do it yourself kits out there but I am not as comfortable with them.

Your biggest asset - your child! Without a will, the court will decide who raises your child. Especially if you have family drama issues, you need a will.

__________________
Better to give your kids the values you have
than the valuables you can't afford.

I agree that you definately need a will, everyone needs one - married/unmarried, with kids/without kids etc

We had ours done by our attorney. You can use the kits available online but you have to make sure you're following your states guidelines to make it valid. Even then, I've heard that it might not be binding, but who knows, we never considered it because we wanted to make sure we were covering all our bases but I know folks that did the 'at home' versions and feel very comfortable with it...so it just depends.

We had a thread about wills not that long ago; I'll try to find it.

Do you all have a will?

It is not a worry to me about who the courts decide my children go with...as our families know our wishes..what got me is that WHILE they are deciding, my children are wards of the state..and will more than likely be put in foster care until a decision is made. What if that is a long weekend? What if they seperate my kids? There are a LOT of "what ifs", so both my dh and I have wills...current ones. Leaving our children is not a good thought, but if it does happen, I want to know that I did the very best I could to keep them together and with the family they already know and love.

__________________

Yes, you should have one. We had ours (regular & living wills) done by an attorney. It wasn't cheap, but the peace of mind in knowing it has been done correctly was worth it. Plus the lawyer suggested some things we never would have thought of.

__________________

Erin, mom to Quentin (1/03) and Ian (1/06)

We had one, did it from a computer program and had it notorized. However my cousin and his wife who were going to have our kids just got a surprise divorce! so now i not only have to do a new one, but figure out who's gonna get my kids! yikes!

__________________

A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt

I don't have any idea where my kids would go and it scares me to death. That is the thing that has prevented us from getting one done. I know it is really important to do it.

__________________
The mighty oak started out as a nut that held its ground.

Unfortunately this is me too. I know it really needs to be done.

__________________