Do You Love Your Kid(s)?

If the answer to the question in the title of this blog post is "yes", then why haven't you prepared a Will?

Dying of natural causes at an old age is something that everyone assumes will happen. Dying an untimely death when you are in the prime of your life and have minor children is something that no one thinks will happen, but sadly it happens every day.

Parents of minor children need to think about this unpleasant scenario and make decisions about who will care for their minor children.

There are two documents that parents can use to designate a guardian: Standby Guardian and a Last Will and Testament.

A Standby Guardian designation is a document that is effective for an initial 60 days when the parents dies or become physically or mentally incapable of caring for the children.

A Last Will and Testament can permanently appoint a person or persons as the custodial guardian and/or the trustee for the minor child’s assets.

Every parent should have both of these documents in place and discuss them with the chosen guardian and/or trustee whether they would be willing to take on the responsibility.

All parents, married, divorced, or single, owe it to their children to appoint a guardian for care and custody in the event of an untimely death. I always encourage parents who are married and raising a child or children together, designate a guardian in case of an unlikely, but always possible, simultaneous death of both parents.

Planning is even more important for single or divorced parents.

I recently had a conversation with a divorced dad who told me that he did not need to appoint a guardian for his children because his ex-wife had already taken care of that. I said to him: “but what if she dies before you?”  In that scenario, if the ex-husband/dad died and then the ex-wife/mom died, the ex-wife’s guardian designation would be effective.  However, if they die in reverse order, the ex-husband/dad would have died without effectively designating a guardian for his children and while the court might look to the ex-wife’s guardian designation for guidance, there is no guarantee the court will follow it, or that the document will even be available for the court to review, or that the person/people designated on that form are who the ex-husband/dad would have chosen for the care and custody of his children.

This scenario is why all separated or divorced parents should take the time to have a Standby Guardian appointed and execute a Last Will and Testament designating a person(s) for the permanent care and custody of their children in the event that both parents die.

Another scenario in which it is crucial to have a guardian designated for minor children is when one parent is not involved in the minor’s life and the custodial parent is remarried. The custodial parent’s spouse (i.e.: “the step-parent”), would not have an automatic right to custody of the minor child if the custodial parent dies (unless the step-parent legally adopted the child).

If the step-parent is someone who would want to have custody and care for the child, the biological parent of the child should make that designation in a standby guardian designation as well as in his or her Last Will and Testament or alternatively the step-parent should seek to adopt his or her step-child.  Similarly, single unmarried parents need to appoint a guardian for all of these same reasons.

In addition to appointing a guardian, parents can also appoint a trustee to manage any assets that the minor children inherit under the parent’s Last Will and Testament. The guardian and trustee can be the same person, but do not necessarily need to be.

The guardian for the care and custody of your child should be someone that you trust to instill the same moral, spiritual, intellectual, educational, and social values that you are currently teaching your child.  The person who would be best suited to carry out that teaching may or may not be the person who has the best ability to manage assets that the child inherits.

In addition to appointing a guardian and a trustee, I also strongly encourage parents to speak with an insurance professional to ensure that they have sufficient life insurance to provide for the upbringing and education of their children.

This blog was originally posted as a guest blog on

http://health-e-coach.com/wealthy/financial/kids-alright/