New Parents' Guide to Estate Planning in Utah
New Parents' Guide to Estate Planning in Utah
You survived the pregnancy, the hospital, and the first few sleepless weeks. Estate planning is probably the last thing on your mind right now. But having a child is the single most common reason people finally get a will and trust in place — and for good reason. Without a plan, a court decides who raises your child if something happens to both parents. Your assets could pass to an 18-year-old with no restrictions. And your family could spend months in probate court before anyone can access a dime.
The good news: getting a plan in place is simpler than most new parents expect, and you don't need to be wealthy for it to matter.
The Most Important Thing a Will Does for New Parents
For most people, a will is primarily about distributing assets. For parents of minor children, it does something far more important: it nominates a guardian.
A guardian is the person who would raise your child if both parents died or became permanently incapacitated. Without a valid will naming a guardian, a Utah court decides — based on its own assessment of the child's best interests, with input from competing family members who may not agree on the answer.
That process can be emotionally brutal and legally expensive. A will short-circuits it entirely by putting your preference on record before a court ever gets involved.
A few things worth knowing about guardianship nominations in Utah:
Both parents should name the same guardian in their respective wills to avoid ambiguity.
You can name a different person as guardian of the person (who raises the child) and guardian of the estate (who manages inherited money) — though many families keep it simple and name the same person for both.
A court is not legally bound by your nomination, but it carries very significant weight and will almost always be followed absent a compelling reason.
You should have a candid conversation with your chosen guardian before naming them. Don't assume.
Why a Trust Matters More Once You Have Kids
A will alone has a significant limitation for parents: anything your minor child inherits goes under court-supervised guardianship of the estate until the child turns 18, at which point they receive everything outright. No conditions, no staged distributions, no restrictions. An 18-year-old with unrestricted access to a significant inheritance is a risk most parents would prefer to avoid.
A revocable living trust solves this. Inside the trust, you write your own rules for how inherited assets are managed and distributed. Common approaches include:
Age-staggered distributions — for example, one-third at age 25, one-third at 30, and the remainder at 35.
Purpose-limited distributions — trustee can distribute funds for education, health, housing, or a business start-up, but not for general spending.
Discretionary distributions — your successor trustee uses judgment to distribute based on your child's needs at the time.
You can combine these approaches or write whatever instructions reflect your values. The trust is your document. You set the terms.
A trust also avoids probate, which means your successor trustee can access and manage assets for your child's benefit immediately after your death — rather than waiting months for a court to authorize anything.
What Happens to Your Home
If you own a home and you die without a trust, the house goes through probate before it can be transferred, sold, or used for your child's benefit. In Utah, that process takes months at minimum. During that time, the mortgage still needs to be paid, the property still needs to be maintained, and your family may have limited legal authority to do either.
Titling your home in a revocable living trust eliminates that problem entirely. Your successor trustee can act immediately — keeping up with the mortgage, selling if needed, or holding the property according to your instructions.
Choosing the Right Trustee for Your Child's Inheritance
If your child inherits through a trust, someone needs to serve as trustee — managing and distributing assets according to your instructions until your child reaches the age you've specified. This is one of the most consequential decisions in your estate plan, and it deserves real thought.
A good trustee for a child's inheritance should be:
Financially responsible and organized — this person will manage investments, file trust tax returns, and keep records.
Trustworthy and fair — they need to exercise discretion over distributions, which requires good judgment and the ability to say no when appropriate.
Willing to serve — confirm before you name them. Trustee duties are real work.
Ideally different from the guardian — separating the roles creates a natural check. The guardian focuses on raising your child; the trustee focuses on the money.
You can also name a professional trustee — a bank trust department or trust company — if you don't have a suitable individual in your life. This is worth discussing if your estate is substantial or your family dynamics are complicated.
The Four Documents Every New Parent in Utah Needs
A complete estate plan for new parents includes more than a will and a trust. You need four coordinated documents:
Last Will and Testament. Names a guardian for your child, appoints your personal representative, and serves as a pour-over backstop for any assets not in the trust.
Revocable Living Trust. Holds your major assets, avoids probate, and contains your instructions for how your child's inheritance is managed and distributed over time.
Durable Financial Power of Attorney. Authorizes a trusted person to manage your finances if you're incapacitated but still alive. Without this, your family may need court authorization to pay your bills or manage your accounts.
Utah Advance Health Care Directive. Documents your medical wishes and appoints a healthcare agent to make decisions if you can't. Especially important now that someone depends on you.
All four documents work together. A gap in any one of them creates exposure the others can't fully cover.
Don't Forget Beneficiary Designations
Your estate plan documents don't control everything. Certain assets — life insurance policies, retirement accounts (401k, IRA), and some bank accounts — pass by beneficiary designation, completely outside your will and trust.
This creates a common trap for new parents: you draft a careful trust with age-staggered distributions for your child, but your life insurance names your child directly as beneficiary. At your death, the insurance proceeds go straight to your child — bypassing the trust and its protections entirely — and end up under court-supervised guardianship until age 18, then distributed outright.
The fix is straightforward: name your trust as the beneficiary of your life insurance and review the beneficiary designations on all your accounts. Your estate planning attorney should walk you through this as part of the plan.
One note on retirement accounts: naming a trust as the beneficiary of an IRA or 401k has tax implications that require careful analysis. This is a conversation worth having with your attorney before you make changes.
When Should You Do This?
Ideally, before the baby arrives. Practically, as soon as you can after. There's no magic window, but there is genuine risk in waiting — accidents and medical emergencies don't give notice.
A few life events that should trigger an immediate review of an existing plan:
Birth or adoption of a child
Marriage or divorce
Death of a named guardian or trustee
Significant change in assets (buying a home, receiving an inheritance)
Moving to a new state
If you already have a will and trust from before the baby, revisit it now. The guardian nomination may need to be updated. The trust's distribution provisions may need adjustment. Beneficiary designations should be reviewed.
What About Life Insurance?
Estate planning and life insurance planning go hand in hand for parents. While life insurance isn't a legal document and falls outside the scope of what an estate planning attorney drafts, it's worth flagging here: the purpose of your estate plan is to make sure your child is provided for. That plan only works if there are actually assets in the trust to manage.
For most young families, the primary asset passing at death isn't real estate or investments — it's a life insurance payout. Make sure the coverage is adequate, and make sure the beneficiary designation routes that money where you want it to go.
Ready to Protect Your Family?
At Cutler Riley, we work with new and expecting parents throughout Utah to get the right plan in place quickly, clearly, and at a price that makes sense. Flat-fee pricing, a free consultation, and a process we've designed to be as straightforward as possible.
Book your free consultation today.
Cutler Riley serves families throughout Utah from offices in Draper and Kaysville.