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?

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Mom to Kaylee (10/2006)
Waiting on our second bundle of joy to arrive January 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!

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~Happiness is a large family~

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.

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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.

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.

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Shaking in my boots (well, if I was wearing them in the middle of summer!), but glad to be back!

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.

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Erin, aka Quentinsmommy, 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!

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I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do. -Edward Hale

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.

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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.

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