Okay, so we survived the holiday season, even though the budget was a lot tighter this year. The decorations are down and the gifts in use or put away (or exchanged, or returned, or broken). But it's never over for parents, is it? From the moment our children come into this world, we're busy doing everything in our power to provide for their needs. We try our hardest to protect them from pain, worry, hunger and all the dangerous situations they seem to love to get into. We try and provide for their education and even their recreation— it's a never ending process, isn't it?

I know, because not only do I have a family of my own, but as a bankruptcy attorney in Indiana, I also deal with thousands of families, many of them with young children. Of course, in the field of bankruptcy, I see a lot of families going through real financial struggles because of job layoffs, medical bills or even as the result of a divorce. I always try to emphasize that individuals and families in debt should seek out professional help and explore all their options as early as possible in a deteriorating financial situation.

I think February is the perfect month to talk about what I call "no matter what" gifts for your children (with the excitement and financial pressures of the holidays behind us and tax filing time still a couple of months away). That's the name I give to life insurance policies to ensure your children are taken care of even if the unthinkable happens and one or both of their parents die. In all the articles and blogs I write, I explain that I am not an economist, and now I need to add that I'm no life insurance agent either. But because I help people with their money matters and deal with thousands and thousands of different financial situations, I pay attention to all the ways in which parents can help take care of children's financial needs. It's interesting that bankruptcy law tries to help people keep their life insurance in place. Life insurance on a debtor's life is one of those exemptions in bankruptcy (meaning that, in most cases, the policy can't be taken by creditors to satisfy debt).

There are different kinds of life insurance, of course; some policies have cash value that can be withdrawn for a child's college expenses or other needs, while "pure term" policies offer a death benefit only. The main idea, though, is to insure the life of the parent as the "breadwinner." If the parent isn't there to provide money for the child's needs, that's when the life insurance benefits kick in. We don't like to think about death and dying, and we certainly would prefer to be there in person during every step of our children's development. But if you think about it you'll agree that paying the premiums on "no-matter-what" gifts for children truly shows our undying and all-encompassing love for those kids.

There's more to good estate planning for parents and children than purchasing life insurance. Guardians need to be appointed and those guardians need to agree to serve. Beneficiary designations need to be exactly right. Proper documents need to be prepared to be sure all the details are in place no matter what happens. But the financial underpinnings of the plan come from the life insurance benefits themselves. You see, with life insurance gifts for your children, there's no wrapping and no ribbons—just love.