No one wants to contemplate their own mortality, but the fact is, anything can happen. It is a good idea to assign guardianship of your children after your death, just in case something happens to you before your children are grown.This is a relatively simple procedure unless you have complications with your marriage or other family members.
First of all, the ideal place to assign guardianship of your children after your death is in your will. You’ll state exactly who will assume guardianship of your children and under what circumstances. You can include more than one person if you would prefer to select a couple of alternates, or you can name one person. The hard part is deciding who should assume guardianship of your children after your death.
Some people feel that family is sufficiently important that a relative should be given guardianship. This is especially true if the child is close with a grandparent, aunt, uncle or cousin. If you are choosing a grandparent or another older relative, however, it is usually best to include an alternate or two, just to be on the safe side. If the grandparent has passed away at the time of your death, and you haven’t assigned an alternate guardian, it will be up the courts to determine guardianship of your children.
If you aren’t close with any family members or if you don’t feel comfortable leaving your children in their care, you can also assign guardianship to a friend. This is especially true if you have a friend whose children are chose with your own, or a friend who hasn’t been able to have children. This way, you’re assigning guardianship to someone who is about your age and who can be physically capable of taking care of your children.
Once you have decided to whom you want to assign guardianship of your children after your death, simply add that information to your will, along with any alternates. If you’ve already had your will signed and witnessed, you will need to create a fresh copy and repeat the procedure all over again, or the courts won’t recognize the changes as valid. In an addendum to your will, write down the reasons why you have selected this individual as the guardian of your children. This will help the judge in making his final decision and will improve the chances that your wishes will be honored in the way you intend.
It is also a good idea to assign someone guardianship over your money and finances — specifically that which you leave to your children. It is customary to leave the guardian of your children enough money to cover their expenses until they come of age, but you also have the option of naming someone else as executor of your finances. This depends on who you trust to handle money, and whether that is the same person you trust with your children.
Make sure that if the child’s other parent is not assigned guardianship, you give the reasons why. For example, if your ex-spouse abandoned the children after a divorce, you should state as much in your explanations. This will keep a judge from assigning your ex-spouse guardianship of your children after your death when you know that he or she is not capable of raising them. You should know, however, that parental rights supersede all others, and if the other parent has not been stripped of his or her parental rights, guardianship could still be placed with that individual.
