Hi All, sorry if this is a repeat topic, but I am still going through an amicable divorce and want to make sure that not only the divorce and parental agreements go through, but there are other items that I am rather concerned and haven’t been able to think through. A little background, myself and my STBXW are both born overseas, although we are both US citizens today, we basically have zero family where we live and close friends have been leaving/moving out too. That means that we don’t have many people to rely on should anything happens to either of us. We basically only have each other which is a nuisance given that we basically don’t want to see each other again except for the co-parenting duties. We have two small kids (4 and 3). Here are the key concerns:

  1. How one should logistically prepare? Should either of us get life insurances? And if so, to cover the kids expenses until they are 21? Or how should one go about it? I am extremely concern because, knock on the wood, should anything happen to my ex-spouse, I immediately lose the ability to provide, maintain the same job hours etc… (yeah my STBXW is the bread winner, picking up most of the kids expenses)

  2. How can I protect my kids inheritance from me, knock on wood, if anything happens to me, how do I make sure my kids receive my share of life insurance, any related work insurance benefits (LTD,ShortTD, 401k, IRA) and any other funds/finances or estate that I have at the time?

Although things are relatively amicable, there’s an obvious underlying uneasy feeling with all of this. I don’t my STBXW to take advantage of anything that belongs to my kids and they need until they become adults. Need something to fallback on or someone that makes sure this happens.

Any thoughts on all of this? If so how did solve? Is setting up a trust and an appointed trust administrator the best path? How much does that cost?