Do You Know Who Will Care For Your Children If You Cannot?

Hi, I’m Kim Rainan, an estate planning attorney in Andover, Massachusetts, one of the most important decisions my clients who have young children make when they’re doing their estate planning with our office is who will be the guardian for their children, heaven forbid something happens to them before the kids turn 18. Today, I’d like to tell you a little bit about what a guardianship is, and what I think are some important factors to consider when making this important decision. So what is a guardian, a guardian is the person who takes physical and legal custody of a minor child, if for any reason their parents aren’t available to care for them. So in essence, this is the person that children will live with who will make medical decisions, take care of school issues, and just generally take care of the child. In an emergency situation, if there’s no clear indication as to who the Guardian should be, oftentimes Children’s Services gets involved and takes custody of the children. Obviously, this is the worst case scenario. And it’s something that we always want to avoid. Without a designation in place, it’s up to a judge at the family and probate court to decide who the Guardian should be. And a judge is a person who doesn’t know you, your children, or your family. So make the decision ahead of time. Protect your kids from all of these contingencies, and make sure your wishes are stated. If you’re not sure who you’d like to appoint in this important role. Some of the considerations I like to talk through with my client include geographic location, is it important to you that your child stay local to where you’ve raised them so far, or is relocating a good option? Age of The Guardian. Oftentimes, grandparents make the most sense for guardian, but are they going to be available over the long term? Third is religious observance. If, if worship is important to you and your family, maybe that should continue on? Or maybe not. And last is parenting style. You would want to appoint someone who makes decisions similar to the ones that you do. Don’t leave this to chance. Make sure your children will be looked after by the person you think is most appropriate. We would love to help you with this important decision. give our office a call.