The Myers Law Firm Parents' Package™

The Myers Law Firm Parents Package™ is a design and planning relationship with clients who are parents of minor children. The components of the package include attention in design meetings to the different needs of such parents. The scope of the legal work involved extends to include counseling related to the legal ramifications in raising minor children.

The Myers Law Firm Parents Package™ evolved from having met with a number of parents of minor children who wanted specific focus on how the children would be instructed and raised by others known as guardians in the event of the parents premature death or incapacity. This focus grew to include development of health-care powers for the children (so that, for example, the babysitter can authorize medical treatment at the emergency room), counseling related to funding educational expenses, and detailed guardian instructions to assist our chosen guardians in carrying out our wishes with respect to the raising of our most prized dependents.

Included in the package are the following:

1. Trust changes:

a. Extra and detailed language in the revocable trust pertaining to distributions for the guardians benefit
b. Detailed language for educational expenses during college and graduate school

2. Guardian Instructions -- detailed instructions pertaining to:

a. Educational values, cost and location of schooling
b. Religious indoctrination, spiritual awareness
c. Culture and second-language instruction
d. Musical instrument and sports-participation instructions
e. Driving and car ownership
f. Moral issues, such as birth control, premarital relations, abortion, and teenage marriage
g. Holidays and vacations
h. Nutrition and exercise
i. Medical and dental care, hygiene
j. Haircuts, clothing and appearance

Download and Complete your Guardian Instructions

3. Durable Powers of Attorney

a. Custom provisions dealing with the power to act in a fiduciary capacity (e.g., as trustee of a trust for the minor)
b. Custom provisions pertaining to gifting and establishing trusts or educational funding mechanisms for children in the event that the parents are incapacitated from doing so
c. Provisions relating to the priorities to be balanced between the parents' health care needs and the children's educational needs

4. Wills

a. Provisions setting forth the identity of the guardians, the order in which they are to serve, and any other contingencies or requirements
b. Disposition of wealth is poured into incentive trusts

5. Health-care powers

a. Provisions describing the role of our children in the parents' health-care situation, visitation and participation issues
b. Provisions for the health care of the children themselves, wishes pertaining to type of medical treatment, authority to treat, and difficult decision-making.

We have found that the addition of these customized documents -- in the case of parents with minor children -- underscores our thoroughness and adds to our clients' overall peace of mind.