Vacationing Without the Children

As a mother of young children, I read a lot of parenting material. As an estate planning attorney, I read countless articles on wills and other important documents. Recently I came across a blog post that fell into both categories; proper legal planning when mom and dad are going on a solo vacation. Written by Attorney Rania Combs of Texas as a guest post on Attorney Daneille G. Van Ess' blog, it is a concise list of steps you may want to add to your vacation to-do list.

• update your will or create one so that a guardian for minor children is listed. Without one, the courts would decide;
• create a health care authorization for your children -- if you are away, who has permission to get the medical attention if needed;
• create a list of important names, numbers, and accounts -- doctor, health insurance company, hospital your family uses, how to reach you on vacation;
• and make sure people can access said documents.

I have yet to travel sans children, but when I do, this information will be useful.