The Estate Planning Checklist Every Couple Should Complete Before Having Children

Nurseries get planned months in advance. Estate plans, almost never — until something forces the issue. Here's the checklist to work through before your child arrives, so the legal side of your family is as ready as the room down the hall.

1. Write or Update Your Will

If you don't have a will yet, this is the trigger to finally do it. If you do, it needs updating — a will written before children rarely accounts for them properly. See our step-by-step guide to writing a will in South Africa.

2. Name a Guardian — and an Alternate

The single most important clause for parents, and the one most commonly missed. Without a named guardian, the High Court decides who raises your child if both parents die. Have the conversation with your chosen guardian directly, and name a backup in case they're unable to serve. Full detail in our guide on the biggest estate planning mistake parents make.

3. Set Up a Testamentary Trust

Without one, any inheritance you leave your child sits in the government-run Guardian's Fund until they turn 18 — slow to access even for legitimate costs like school fees. A testamentary trust, created inside your will, lets a trustee you choose manage and release funds for your child's actual needs.

4. Review Your Life Insurance

A new dependant usually means your existing cover needs a second look. Confirm the payout would actually cover what your family would need — ongoing living costs, childcare, a bond — not just what felt adequate before children existed. Make sure the policy names a specific beneficiary (not "my estate"), so it pays out quickly and outside the frozen estate process.

5. Update Retirement Fund Beneficiary Nominations

Retirement fund death benefits are decided separately from your will — see our guide on whether you can choose your pension beneficiary. Make sure your fund's nomination form reflects your new dependant, even though the fund's trustees retain final discretion.

6. Set Up a Digital Vault

Record your bank accounts, investments, crypto, and other digital assets somewhere your executor and guardian can find them. This matters more, not less, once a child depends on that money actually being locatable.

7. Appoint (or Reconfirm) Your Executor

If your estate just got more complicated — a trust, a growing list of assets, a dependant who needs protecting — reconsider whether your named executor is still the right fit, and make sure the security bond waiver clause is included. See our guide on the executor security bond and how to avoid it.

Do It Before, Not After

None of this takes long, and all of it is free to set up with urWill. The honest truth is that most parents finally do this checklist reactively, months or years after their child is born, usually prompted by something scary. Do it now instead. Create your will online — free, before the sleepless nights make it harder to get to.