The Twenty Minutes Every New Parent Should Set Aside

Amid diaper changes and midnight feedings, one short block of time can protect your child's future and preserve your voice for them to hear one day.

A Small Window of Time in an Overwhelming Season

No one tells new parents that the hardest part of caring for a newborn isn't the sleepless nights — it's the sense that there's no time left over for anything else, including the important paperwork and personal reflections that used to feel optional. Yet tucked between feedings and naps, there is one twenty-minute window worth protecting: a short, focused block of time to handle a few decisions that only you can make for your child.

That twenty minutes doesn't need to solve everything at once. It might mean writing down the name of the person you'd want to raise your child if you couldn't, checking who's listed on a life insurance form, or simply speaking a few words you want your child to have one day — the kind of first message that families are starting to preserve at Voice After Life.com. None of these tasks require a law degree or a financial background. They just require twenty minutes and a willingness to begin.

Why So Many Parents Put This Off

If you haven't gotten around to any of this yet, you're in the majority, not the exception. In 2025, only 24% of wills survey respondents said they have a will, down from 33% of respondents with a will in 2022. The trend is especially pronounced among younger parents: a will is held by just 31% of Americans, while only 11% have a trust, and in total, 55% of Americans have no estate plan at all.

Parenthood is supposed to be the moment this changes, but often it isn't. Notably, 35 percent of those without a will due to insufficient assets are parents of children under 18. Estate planning attorneys point to the same gap: 36% of parents with minor children have a will, leaving guardianship decisions up to the courts for most families. The reason usually isn't a lack of caring — it's a lack of time, and an assumption that "someday" will come with more of it.

What Those Twenty Minutes Should Actually Cover

1. Naming a Guardian

This is the single most important reason many family-law attorneys give for new parents to create even a simple will. A guardian assumes full parental responsibility — housing, education, health care, and emotional support — if both parents die, and without a named guardian, a court decides who raises your children, potentially leading to family disputes or government placement. Legal guides are consistent on this point: if you want to have a say about who raises your children, you need to name a guardian before you die, because without knowing your wishes, a judge could appoint someone who would raise your children in a way that goes against your values.

Choosing that person can feel paralyzing, which is part of why so many parents stall. But as one legal resource notes, some parents may put off naming a guardian because they have trouble choosing the right person, but although it can be difficult to know who the best person is for the role, this is not a reason to put it off altogether. A first draft, even an imperfect one, is better than no answer at all — and it can always be updated later.

2. Checking Your Beneficiary Designations

Life insurance, retirement accounts, and other financial products don't pass through your will — they pass directly to whoever is named on the account itself. Life insurance benefits are generally not governed by your will, so naming a beneficiary ensures your wishes are followed, and it's important to review your designations after major life events like marriage, divorce, birth of a child, or death of a beneficiary.

There's a wrinkle new parents should know about before simply typing in their baby's name: minor children cannot directly receive life insurance proceeds or other significant assets, and if you name a minor child as beneficiary of a life insurance policy, the insurance company will not pay the proceeds until a court-appointed guardian of the property is in place to receive them. Many families instead choose to name a trust as beneficiary of their life insurance and other assets, so the trustee they select manages the funds and makes distributions for the children's benefit according to the terms they establish. This is exactly the kind of detail worth a short conversation with a qualified estate planning attorney rather than a guess.

3. Leaving a Personal Word, Not Just a Legal One

Guardianship papers and beneficiary forms protect your child's future. But they don't carry your voice, your laugh, or the small stories that make you you. Many parents use part of their twenty minutes to record something simple — a lullaby, a piece of advice, the story of the day their child was born — so that if the unexpected ever happens, their child has more than documents to hold onto. It's a reason growing numbers of families are turning to platforms like Voice After Life, where a recorded memory can sit alongside the practical paperwork as part of a complete plan for the people you love.

Making the Habit Stick

Twenty minutes once isn't a finish line — it's a starting point. Life insurance guidance generally recommends reviewing beneficiary designations regularly: it's recommended to review your beneficiary designations at least once a year or whenever a significant life event occurs, such as marriage, divorce, or the birth of a child. The same logic applies to your guardian designation and any personal messages you've started — they should grow and change as your family does.

If you take nothing else from this article, take this: the goal isn't to finish your entire estate plan in one sitting. It's to stop letting "someday" win. Twenty minutes, spent on one guardian decision, one beneficiary check, or one recorded message, is twenty minutes your future family will be grateful for.

A Note on Getting It Right

Every family's legal and financial situation is different, and state laws on wills, guardianship, and beneficiary designations vary. The information here is educational and general in nature — it is not a substitute for personalized advice from a licensed attorney, tax professional, insurance agent, or financial advisor who knows the details of your situation.

• Voice After Life.com