Preparing for the future sometimes means thinking about worst-case scenarios. That’s one reason for having wills and establishing trusts for your minor children.

“If you have minor children your biggest concern is to protect them if both parents are gone,” says George Catt, a Lawrence attorney who specializes in wills, trusts and estate planning.

In a will, parents can designate guardians for their children as well as specify that their offspring get a certain amount of money. If parents haven’t designated a guardian, the courts will.

“Parents are in a much better position to know who might be a good match for the children,” says Calvin Karlin, another Lawrence attorney who specializes in estate matters.

In choosing guardians, parents need to consider personality, discipline, residential location and school district in determining who would be the best fit for their children, Karlin says

“I think that’s the hardest choice parents have to make, choosing a guardian,” Karlin says.

Parents also should establish a hierarchy of guardians, so that if something happens to the first guardian, others are already designated to replace them, Karlin and Catt say.

“You ought to have a backup plan for contingencies,” Karlin says.

A trust can be established to keep money that children will get when they become older. The trust can be in a separate document or set up in the will, Catt says. The money is usually held until children are older than 18.

“Eighteen-year-olds historically are more interested in cars and sound equipment or whatever is in vogue, instead of spending it on education or real estate,” Catt says.

Usually, trusts or wills allow the release of the money in two distributions, often to someone in his or her early to mid-20s the first time and a few years later for the second distribution.

“If they make mistakes in the first round, hopefully they’ve learned something for the later payments,” Catt said.

Parents also should keep in mind that the amount of money their children receive could affect any entitlements they also are receiving, such as Social Security disability or Medicare, Catt says. If payments aren’t set up correctly those entitlements could be lost until all of the payment money is spent, then they have to be reapplied for.

“You can set up a trust for a child with special needs,” Catt said. “Use the money to supplement anything else they receive but don’t supplant it.”