Choosing a Guardian for your Children

As a parent, you will naturally want the best for your children, which is why it’s a good idea to make a Will as early as possible, especially if you have children to care for.

If something unexpected does happen to you, it’s important that your children will be cared and provided for in your absence. While establishing a Will to divide up the inheritance between your children is essential, you also need to consider the care of your children, should something happen to you whilst they are still young and unable to take care of themselves.

Considering that your children may, at some stage, have a future without you can be difficult to come to terms with. However, the thought that they would be left in care without suitable provisions is a much more terrifying prospect.

If one parent dies:

It’s important to think about who you would consider as an appropriate guardian for your children. In the case that one parent dies, the remaining parent would automatically take over full responsibility for the children, unless there are conflicting laws that prevent this from occurring.

This procedure happens automatically, regardless of whether the other parent is currently involved in your child’s life. This could cause harmful implications for your child if they need to move schools and houses to live with the other parent who they don’t share a great bond with.

In this case, you can change the childcare responsibility using your Will.

If your child has a stepparent:

If you are a blended family and your child has a stepparent who is not married to you, it’s important to specify in a Will that you intend your partner to take over full guardianship of any children in the event of your death. If no Will is made, this could lead to complications as your partner holds no legal guardianship over your children unless you are married, or your partner has legally adopted them.

If both parents die:

Typically, if both parents die, your child would become a “ward of the state” if no Will is in place to determine their intended guardianship. This means that your child would be legally classified as an orphan and it would be left for the courts to decide who they deemed most suitable to take over their guardianship based on their next of kin status, closeness to the family in general, or facilities and finances that they currently hold to provide for a child. This can be a lengthy and tedious process which is applied globally, although some jurisdictions may fall under Civil Law, or common law, and may leave your children in state care until a decision is made.

In this case, your child may end up becoming the responsibility of someone that you personally wouldn’t have chosen. The courts will always determine suitability based on facts and assets rather than personal opinion of that individual.

Making a Will allows you to make that decision for yourself based on that person’s merits as a potential parent and not based on finances or housing allocation. You will be able to appoint a temporary guardian and permanent guardian for your child until they reach 18 years of age.