Planning For the Future

George could not have asked for a better wife than Jane Jetson. Although we don’t learn much about the couple’s early life together in their show, The Jetsons, astute viewers can pick up on a few interesting background details in the 75 episodes that ran first in the early 1960s and then again in the middle part of the 1980s. 

One thing we know is that George was older than Jane. He was 40 years old in Season One, Episode One, while Jane was 33. They must have been very young sweethearts, because we learn in the series premier that their oldest child, Judy, is 15 years old, making Jane 18 when they started their family. The couple also has a 6 ½ year old son named Elroy. He was quite the science and math prodigy.

George and Jane built a comfortable life and loving family together over the years. They lived in the Skypad Apartments, and George worked for Spacely Space Sprockets. George’s boss was a tiny man with a short temper named Cosmo G. Spacely.

George could not have survived without Jane by his side. In fact, his best-known catchphrase was “Jane! Stop this crazy thing!” He had frequent opportunities to yell that phrase as he often got himself into situations that required rescue. Jane was always there to save the day. Jane also regularly defended George against Mr. Spacely’s frequent outbursts. Jane was usually portrayed as a sweet and supportive wife whose main objective was to make life as pleasant as possible for her family. However, viewers saw a different side of Jane anytime she felt her family was being threatened. She was extremely protective.

As an estate planning attorney, I’d like to think that Jane’s protective instincts would have led her to set up an intelligent estate plan to look out for her children in case anything ever happened to her or George. I see her dragging George to their attorney’s office as soon as she found out she was pregnant with Judy to make sure they had documents in place that nominated their preferred guardian, who would raise their children if necessary. 

I envision her pushing George to set up a trust to manage their assets for the benefit of their young children. I hope she would have thought about power of attorney documents—both for financial matters and healthcare decisions—to ensure that someone had authority to take care of business in case they were hit with a serious illness or injury.

But if Jane was like many of the parents I know, I fear she might have overlooked one important thing that she should have done to protect Judy and, eventually, Elroy as the children got older. While her children were young, Jane would have all the authority she would need to help them with their finances as they started to learn to make money and take care of some of their own expenses. 

Of course, as the mother of Judy and Elroy, she would also have all the authority she would need to look out for the health and safety of her children. She could take them to the doctor when they got sick, decide on the best treatment when presented with multiple care options, and obtain any healthcare information she might need.

But if Jane was like many of the parents I know, she might not have realized all that would change as soon as Judy turned 18. Judy would always be her baby girl, but not in the eyes of the law. When Judy turned 18, she would legally be an adult, and Jane would no longer have any legal right to step in and help Judy either from a financial standpoint or from a healthcare standpoint.

As soon as possible after Judy’s 18th birthday, George and Jane should have taken Judy to their estate planning attorney to discuss with Judy the need for power of attorney documents. Many people are biased to think only “older” people need power of attorney documents, but I disagree. 

I believe everyone over the age of 18 should have documents in place naming someone as their agent for both financial and healthcare matters. While Judy was a minor, there was no problem. But at the ripe old age of 18, the law assumes she doesn’t need her parents’ help anymore. I beg to differ, but the problem is solvable with a very simple set of documents.

As Judy gets older, perhaps after she gets married, she can always change those documents to name someone else besides her parents as her agent. But until then, Jane’s protective instincts should have led her to take one more crucial step to ensure she could continue looking out for her baby daughter even after she reached the age of majority.

Contact an elder lawyer today to learn more about this topic and all other estate planning decisions parents should make to look out for their families, young and old.