Setting up a trust for minor children in Georgia

Most Georgia parents need more than a basic will to protect their children. A complete estate plan includes a will, a trust, guardianship designations, and properly aligned life insurance beneficiaries. Without these pieces in place, a Georgia court will decide who raises your children and controls their inheritance. This article walks through every component of a plan built specifically for families with minor children.

Quick Links:

Why a will alone isn’t enough

6 things a complete estate plan should include

Legal documents for short-term situations

What happens without an estate plan?

Protecting your children’s inheritance in a second marriage

How the Estate Design process works

Frequently asked questions

Most parents I work with have the same thing in common: they know they need to create an estate plan for their kids, and they’ve been meaning to do it for years. And then, something happens: a new baby arrives, or a family friend becomes a cautionary tale, or they book a big international trip, and they finally decide: this is the year.

What surprises people most when they finally sit down and start the planning process with me is that it’s not nearly as painful as they expected. The decisions aren’t impossible, and they walk away with a plan they actually understand and know how to use.

In this article, we’re breaking down what a complete estate plan should look like for Georgia parents with minor children.

Why a will alone isn’t enough if you have kids

According to Caring.com’s 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Study, Americans with children under 18 make up the largest group of people without a will or other estate planning documents in place. Most of the families without a will say it’s because they don’t have enough assets to justify one, even though they have minor children at home.

There’s no gentle way to say this: Parents who don’t set up any estate plan are leaving one of the most important decisions of their lives—who raises their children—in the hands of a Georgia court.

If you’re a parent of minor children, having a will at minimum is essential, but wills still leave significant gaps. A will can name a guardian for your children, state your wishes for who inherits your assets, and designate an executor to guide your estate through the legal process. Under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 53-4-20), a valid will must be in writing, signed by the testator, and witnessed by two competent witnesses.

What a will can’t do:

• Control when your children receive their inheritance. In Georgia, an 18-year-old can receive their entire inheritance outright, with no restrictions. A will alone has no mechanism to delay or stage that distribution.
• Kick in during incapacity. If you’re in the hospital and someone needs to step in for your kids, your will is not a legal asset. Wills only activate upon your death.
• Avoid probate. Every Georgia will goes through the probate courts. Even for estates where everyone agrees and there are no complications, this process can be expensive and slow. Georgia law requires probate estates to be open for a minimum of 6 months and administration can sometimes take multiple years.

What a complete estate plan should include for most Georgia parents

1. Legal guardianship designation

This is the piece most parents think of first: Who will raise your children if something happens to you and your spouse? In Georgia, if you don’t name a guardian, a court will appoint one. That means a judge who doesn’t know your family or your values will make one of the most important decisions about your children’s lives. 

Nominating a guardian in your will is the only legal mechanism that gives you control over this outcome.

When you designate a guardian in your estate plan, you choose someone whose parenting style, values, and relationship with your kids align with what you’d want. You also name a backup, in case the person you’ve chosen isn’t able or willing to serve when the time comes.

What to consider when choosing a legal guardian for your kids:

• Do you want a relative, or would you be comfortable with a close friend?
• Does the person you’re considering have the temperament and capacity for this role, including the time and lifestyle stability?
• Are you comfortable with one person raising your children and managing their money, or would you rather separate those responsibilities?

2. Standby guardian designation

A standby guardian is different from your long-term guardian. This is someone nearby (e.g., a trusted friend, a neighbor, or a local relative) who can step in immediately if you’re temporarily incapacitated. Think: an unexpected trip to the emergency room, or a delay coming home from a trip abroad. 

Without this designation, even a short-term crisis can involve child protective services. This gives you the ability to assign a designated person with legal authority to act on your behalf, without going to court.

Georgia law recognizes and enforces standby guardian designations, which must be signed by the person you’ve chosen in order to be valid. Your standby guardian doesn’t need to meet the same criteria as your long-term guardian, so this is typically an easier choice. 

What to consider when choosing a standby guardian:

• Can they be physically present within 30 to 60 minutes? 
• Do they know and have a good relationship with your child? 
• Are they typically available on short notice?

3. Revocable living trust

Most people think trusts are just for the ultra-wealthy, but that’s a common myth. A properly structured trust accomplishes several goals for parents that a will can’t:

• Controls when and how your children receive their inheritance. Rather than a lump sum at age 18, you’re free to set the terms: for example, earmarking funds for education, healthcare, and housing now; giving them partial distributions at age 25, 30, or another milestone you choose; and trustee discretion for extraordinary circumstances in between.
• Avoids probate. Assets held in a funded trust pass directly to your children without court involvement, delays, and the cost of a probate attorney. Where a will can leave a family waiting for months on the court process to complete, a trust allows the successor trustee to step in immediately.
• Protects your assets from outside claims. A carefully structured trust can make it difficult for creditors of the beneficiary to access trust funds, which is useful protection if your child faces financial or legal difficulties as an adult.
• Covers incapacity. If you’re hospitalized and unable to care for your children, the trust can authorize the trustee to act immediately without the need for legal action.

One important caveat about trusts: In order to work, a trust needs to be properly “funded,” meaning your assets have been transferred into it. 

4. Successor trustee appointment

The successor trustee is the person who manages the money in your children’s trust after you’re gone. This is often a different person from the legal guardian; separating the two roles is a deliberate choice, because raising kids and managing financial assets are different skill sets. The person who’s best suited to love and parent your kids may not be the same person who’s best suited to make investment decisions on their behalf or resist pressure if your 18-year-old wants to withdraw funds early.

What to consider when choosing a trustee:

• Do they have the time? 
• Do they have sound financial judgment? 
• If necessary, can they say no when the beneficiary pushes back on the trust’s terms?

5. Life insurance and beneficiary alignment

Life insurance is a major financial safety net for young families. But it only works as intended if it’s set up correctly, and mistakes in this area are surprisingly common.

Minors can’t legally receive funds from a life insurance policy or a retirement account directly. If you name your minor child as the beneficiary, a Georgia probate court gets involved to appoint a financial guardian for those funds. That process takes time, costs money, and leaves those funds frozen until it’s resolved.

Here’s a real-world example:

I once worked with a client who inherited an estate through a trust that was not named as the beneficiary of the life insurance policy. The beneficiary’s legal name didn’t exactly match the name listed on the beneficiary designation, so the bank rejected it. Instead of the grantor’s assets flowing directly to a beneficiary as intended, the heirs had to go through probate court to claim the life insurance payout.

Fortunately, there’s a simple solution: name your trust as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy and relevant financial accounts. That way, when you pass away, those funds will flow directly into the trust so the trustee can access them immediately for your children’s needs.

The same logic applies to any account with a payable-on-death designation. If those designations name a minor child, you’ve involved the courts in your estate whether you wanted to or not. Aligning all of your beneficiary designations with your trust is an important step in the estate planning process, and an experienced attorney will help you make sure it’s done correctly.

6. Letter of intent

This last one isn’t a legal document, but it’s still an important part of a parent’s complete estate plan. A letter of intent is your personal message to the people who may one day care for your children. It covers the specific details that legal documents can’t: your child’s routines, their comfort items, their favorite teacher, the foods they won’t eat, the things that calm them down when they’re scared. It should also cover your values and your hopes for how they’ll be raised.

Legal documents for minor children in short-term situations: Travel, illness, emergencies, etc.

Your estate plan outlines what happens after you’re gone, but what about the gap between now and then? What happens if you take a trip, or get hospitalized, or experience some kind of unexpected delay that keeps you away from home?

For those situations, you want to have a caregiver packet ready to go. This is a set of short-term documents that give a trusted person legal authority to act on your behalf while you’re temporarily unavailable.

A complete caregiver packet can include:

• Standby guardian designation: Gives your caregiver legal authority to act in your place if you’re unexpectedly unavailable
• Permission letter: Written authorization for routine tasks like school pickup and permission slips; send copies to your child’s school and any programs they attend
• Medical consent letter: Authorizes medical treatment; create one per child and include insurance information, physician contacts, and what treatments are authorized
• Power of Attorney for the care of a minor child: Grants a designated adult the authority to authorize medical treatment, access records, and make day-to-day decisions for your child. This document must be signed and notarized by both you and the caregiver

These documents should sit on top of your estate plan as a “Plan B,” filling the day-to-day gaps that an estate plan isn’t designed to handle. 

What happens without an estate plan?

Under Georgia’s intestate succession laws (O.C.G.A. § 53-2-1), if you die without a will, the state determines who inherits your assets and how. That formula doesn’t take your wishes or your family’s specific circumstances into account.

• Without a guardianship designation, a court decides who raises your children. The judge will do their best, but they don’t know your family.
• Without a trust, a probate court appoints a financial guardian to manage your minor children’s inheritance. When they turn 18, they receive the full remaining balance outright, with no oversight.
• Without properly aligned beneficiary designations, your life insurance proceeds can be frozen in court while your family waits for probate.

How a trust protects your children’s inheritance if you remarry

For parents in a second marriage, or who might remarry someday, a trust helps ensure the right people inherit your assets, in the right amounts, regardless of who’s in your life at the time. Under Georgia’s default rules, assets left outright to a surviving spouse pass entirely into that spouse’s control. 

If you remarry after your children are born, and you die without a plan that explicitly protects assets for your kids, your new spouse will inherit. Your children from a prior relationship may receive far less than you intended, or even nothing at all. When your surviving spouse eventually dies, their estate passes under their own plan, which may prioritize their own children or family over yours.

A properly structured revocable living trust solves this problem. You specify exactly what portion of your estate goes to your children and when they receive it, regardless of any subsequent marriage. The trustee you appoint is legally obligated to follow those terms, regardless of your surviving spouse’s preferences.

Have a more complex blended family situation? Check out this article on estate planning for blended families.

How the Estate Design process works for parents

1. Step 1: Intake. Take ~20 minutes to fill out a simple form that prompts you through the key decisions: who might you name as guardian, who do you trust to manage assets, how would you want an inheritance structured? There are no wrong answers; the intake form simply gets your thinking started.
2. Step 2: Design Meeting. This is an hour-long guided conversation where I’ll ask you questions about your specific assets and your goals. You don’t need to come in knowing the answers or the right legal terms. This is the fun part, where I learn more about what you want to achieve so I can set up a plan that’s right for you.
3. Step 3: Signing. You leave with a complete, signed estate plan and a One-Page Plan that shows exactly how your assets flow, who’s responsible at each stage, and what your family should do when the time comes. This plan is designed to be easy to read and use when your family needs it.

Ready to take the first step? Download our free guide: Protecting Your Kids When You’re Not Around.

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Frequently asked questions

When should I create an estate plan?

The moment you have a minor child, you have a reason to have an estate plan. If something happened to you tomorrow, a Georgia court would make decisions about your child’s guardian and their inheritance regardless of whether your child is 6 months or 16 years old. Being proactive and creating a plan will protect them at every age.

How often do I need to update my children’s estate plan?

Less often than most people expect. Outside of major life changes, like a divorce, remarriage, the birth of another child, or the death of a named guardian or trustee, a strong estate plan is designed to be durable and flexible. A general review every few years is a good idea, but a well-prepared plan isn’t a constant project.

Do I need a trust or a will?

You probably need both. Even if you have a trust, a will is essential to assign your children’s guardian and serve as the catch-all for any assets that weren’t transferred into the trust before your death. The two documents are designed to work together as a coordinated plan. If you’re still not sure, download our free guide on Trusts vs. Wills.

What if I want to change my children’s legal guardian?

You can update your guardianship designation at any time. Reviewing your named guardian every few years, or whenever a major life change affects your family or theirs, is a good habit.

Do I have enough money to need a trust?

If you have minor children who would receive an inheritance (including through life insurance), a trust is worth considering regardless of your estate’s size. The primary benefit of a trust for most families is avoiding probate and controlling the timing of your children’s inheritance, so their financial needs can be managed by someone you trust even into adulthood.