Somewhere between the sleep deprivation and the pediatrician appointments, “update our will” tends to fall to the bottom of the list, usually right where it stays for years. It’s an understandable order of priorities. It’s also exactly why so many parents of young kids have no documented guardian, no updated beneficiaries, and no real plan if something happened to both of them at once.
You don’t have to do this all in the first week. But it belongs in the first year, and it’s a shorter list than it sounds like.
Name a Guardian, Even If the Choice Feels Hard
This is the piece that tends to stall everyone, because it forces you to think about something you don’t want to think about, and because there’s rarely one obviously perfect answer. Pick the best available choice, not a perfect one, and name a backup in case your first choice isn’t available later. You can revisit this decision as your child grows and your circumstances change; the goal right now is having an answer on record instead of no answer at all.
Get Life Insurance If You Don’t Already Have Enough
A baby usually means new financial dependents and, often, a new mortgage or bigger living expenses. Term life insurance is typically inexpensive for young, healthy parents and provides a straightforward way to make sure your child would be financially provided for. Review what you already have through an employer, it’s often not enough on its own, and consider a separate policy sized to actually cover years of expenses, not just a funeral.
Write or Update Your Will
If you don’t have one, this is the moment it stops being optional. If you do have one from before your child was born, it almost certainly doesn’t name a guardian and may not reflect how you want assets managed for a minor. At minimum, your will should name a guardian, name an executor, and address how and when your child would inherit anything, rather than a lump sum at 18.
Set Up a Simple Trust or Custodial Structure for Inheritance
Most parents don’t want their kid inheriting a life insurance payout or savings as a lump sum the day they turn 18. A trust, or in some states a simpler custodial account structure, lets you control when and how funds are released, tuition first, a portion at 25, the rest at 30, whatever structure matches your values. This is worth a conversation with an estate planning attorney rather than defaulting to whatever the insurance company’s default beneficiary structure happens to be.
Update Your Beneficiary Designations
Retirement accounts, life insurance, and any new accounts opened around the birth all need beneficiary designations that reflect your actual current wishes, not whatever was filled in years earlier by default (which is sometimes still your parents, or nobody at all). Minor children generally can’t be listed as direct beneficiaries in a way that works cleanly, so this usually means naming a trust or a custodian on their behalf rather than the child directly.
Get Powers of Attorney in Place
New parents are often younger and in good health, which makes this feel unnecessary. It isn’t about likelihood, it’s about coverage. A financial power of attorney and healthcare power of attorney mean your spouse or another trusted person can manage things immediately if you’re incapacitated, rather than needing court intervention at the exact moment your family can least afford the delay.
Start a System for Everything Else
Beyond the legal documents, new parents accumulate a fast-growing list of things worth having organized: pediatrician contacts, insurance policy numbers, your child’s social security number and birth certificate, childcare arrangements, and instructions for whoever might need to step in temporarily, not just in a worst-case scenario, but for a weekend trip or an emergency where a grandparent or babysitter needs access to information quickly.
What Can Realistically Wait
Not everything needs to happen in month one. A revocable living trust for broader estate planning purposes, detailed digital estate planning beyond the basics, and fine-tuning exactly how a trust releases funds at different ages can reasonably wait until you’re a few months in and not running on two hours of sleep. The non-negotiables are the guardian decision, adequate life insurance, and a basic will. Everything else can follow.
Frequently Asked Questions
We already have a will from before the baby. Is it still valid?
It’s likely still legally valid, but it almost certainly doesn’t name a guardian for your child or address inheritance for a minor, which makes it functionally incomplete for your current situation. Update it rather than assuming it still covers what you need.
How much life insurance do new parents actually need?
This depends on your income, debts, and how many years of expenses you want covered, but a common starting point people use is somewhere around ten times annual income, adjusted for your specific situation. A financial advisor or insurance agent can help size this more precisely.
Do both parents need separate wills, or can we do one together?
Married couples often have individual wills that mirror each other rather than a single joint document, since individual wills are generally more flexible and easier to update separately later. Talk to an attorney about which structure fits your state and situation.
What if we can’t agree on a guardian?
This is common and worth working through deliberately rather than letting the disagreement stall the decision indefinitely. If you’re stuck, revisit what matters most, values, stability, willingness, and consider whether the disagreement is really about the guardian choice or about a harder conversation underneath it.
The first year of parenthood does not leave much room for extra projects, which is exactly why having one organized starting point helps. The Self Starter Kit walks you through the essentials, guardian, beneficiaries, key documents, without turning it into another overwhelming to-do. Find Your Kit →
Orderly Affairs helps families get their important documents in order before they are needed. We are not lawyers or financial advisors. Talk to an estate planning attorney and a financial advisor about the specifics of your situation.
About the Author
The Orderly Affairs Team
Orderly Affairs helps families get their important documents in order before they are needed. We are not lawyers or financial advisors. We are people who believe getting organized is one of the kindest things you can do for the people you love. Everything we write is meant to make a hard topic simple and clear.