Guardianship
A legal guardianship is the only way to ensure your children are protected should anything happen to you.
Assigning a caretaker under the law is a vital concern for any parent or guardian. Your children are among the most important people in your life, together we can protect their future well-being. Appointed legal guardians must often wade through a lot of confusing legislation and possibly fight off challenges to that protection from other less-fit providers. Without the advice of a guardianship lawyer, navigating this field of law can be very challenging. While you should always retain the services of a guardianship lawyer when possible, understanding the basic facts of legal caretaking will help you in the long run.
Appointing a guardian is one of the best things parents can do for their children.
Why is it so important? Because if something happens to you, you would surely prefer to choose who assumes legal guardianship of your childern instead of letting the courts decide. A last will and testament can designate guardians for minor children and their property. Parental responsibilities should be entrusted to a close relative. As an alternative to guardianship, designating a successor trustee in a revocable living trust typically is a better option than giving a minor full control of his or her inheritance. Under a living trust that holds and manages the assets for the young person to age 25 or beyond, he or she will have the chance to complete an education and acquire maturity prior to coming into a substantial estate.
Our estate planning lawyers will respond to all your questions and explain in detail how best to write your testament so that your children are protected. We recommend you make the wording as clear and direct as possible and be certain to discuss it with the designated parties ahead of time. Our goal is to avoid any surprises should the worst come to pass, and hopefully avoid the need to hire litigation attorneys in the future.
If you are a current guardian to a minor child, you have no doubt encountered some of the complexities that make this branch of law so challenging. There are several ways in which you can be given a ward. First, you might be designated a caretaker by the state. You might also voluntarily assume the responsibility if a biological parent is declared unfit. You could also accept the responsibility if friends or family request that you do so on the advice of their estate planning lawyers as part of a will. No matter how your ward was designated to you, you do retain legal responsibility for that child until he or she reaches the age of legal maturity, or until the court decides to reassign the ward. If you currently have a ward, you are highly advised to seek the assistance of a skilled legal professional, estate planning lawyers, or a guardianship lawyer as needed to assist you in making the appropriate decisions.
At First Class Counsel we can help you obtain guardianship, and understand the important and delicate responsibilities of this special role.
