Estate Planning

Nominating Guardians for Minor Children - The Part You Don't See.

By Jennifer Sawday

One of the most important things a parent can do is make their nominations for guardians in writing for their minor children in the event something should happen to them.

In California, you can nominate a guardian in a variety of ways with a nomination in a Will being the most common. That being said, our firm recommends that nominations for guardians be included in a Will for most parents.

This is important to remember and we are constantly reminded everyday as we fight contested guardianship battles.

Just yesterday, TLD attorney Monica Goel successfully handled a contested guardianship in our local courts. A mother of a thirteen year old child nominated her very close friends to be her daughter's guardian should something happen to her in her Will. Something did happen and she died.

The close friends filed a petition for temporary guardianship based on the mother's wishes for the minor, which was vigorously contested by the minor child's great-uncle and second cousin. Since the mother's wishes were clear, the court hung its hat on honoring decedent's nomination and wishes.

This is the part that parents don't see because something has happened to them. Don't let this happen to your children.

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Estate Planning, Probate and Trusts involve complex areas of law. Individual circumstances must be considered before any advice can be given.  The general information above is not to be construed as legal advice, which can only be given after consideration of the unique facts of each matter. Please seek the advice or counsel of your attorney, financial advisor or CPA as it may be appropriate.

Full post as published by Estate Planning Practice Blog on March 14, 2008 (boomark / email).