Docklands Solicitor

- Many people with children under the age of 18 years think they are ‘too young’ to need to make a Will, but what they do not realise is that the God-parents they appointed when Christening their children actually have no legal rights to act, and worse still, if you do not officially appoint ‘Guardians’ for your minor children - one of the main reasons for making a Will - your children will become ‘Wards of the State’ on your death, and the Courts (or Social Services in the first instance!) will decide where they live!

- Guardianship issues cause many a family break up after the parents’ death, as if you do not make your intentions clear, there are likely to be 2 sets of grandparents fighting over them, or siblings from both sides of the family, and the ‘winner’ may well cut off access to the ‘losers’ which would be further tragedy for your children, having just lost their parents.

- It is always best to appoint ‘Primary’ and ‘Secondary’ guardians rather than joint guardians - the idea is that the children will go and live with the guardians and they can’t live in 2 different places.

- The appointment of Secondary guardians ensures that, should the situation arise that the primary guardians when needed are unable or unwilling to act, there is a replacement to take over.

- Appointing Guardians is a very hard decision for any parent. We never like to think of predeceasing our children when they are still very young, but surely you would rather make the decision as to who they should live, rather with than leaving it to the Government to decide!

Labels: children, god-parents, guardians, Will