While no parent wants to think about what will happen to their kids if they aren’t able to take care of them anymore, it’s wise to make plans now for the care for your children in the event that you die while they’re still legally your responsibility. So in addition to writing your will or creating a trust so that your children will be taken care of financially, you also need to decide who you will entrust the actual care of your children to.
To help you in making this decision, here are three things to consider when choosing a legal guardian for your children.
Personalities And Temperament
One of the first things you’ll want to consider when choosing someone to care for your kids as their legal guardian, according to Liz Frazier, a contributor to Forbes.com, is who already loves and cares for them as people. If you know that your kids already get along very well with a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or close family friend, this person might be an easy choice for you.
If you don’t have someone that immediately comes to mind, you should try to think about what you know about your loved ones and how their personalities or temperaments should mesh with those of your children. By finding a good match in this manner, you will have a better chance of picking a guardian that your children will be comfortable with.
How The Guardian Would Handle The Responsibility
Not only should you be thinking about how your children will respond to this person or people as their guardian, but you also need to think about how the guardian will handle this added responsibility placed on them.
According to What To Expect, not every person that you think might do a good job with your kids will have what it takes to actually handle being a parent to your children. A certain amount of financial responsibility should be considered. And along with this, you should think about how caring for your kids might impact their own family relationships.
If Their Morals And Values Align With Yours
Depending on the ages of your children when they would be put into the care of their legal guardian, this person might be responsible for teaching your children a lot of the principles and values that they’ll hold onto for the rest of their lives. Knowing this, Julie Garber, a contributor to The Balance, suggests that you think about how your perspective guardian’s morals and values align with your own and the ones that you’d want to teach your children.
If you’re about to name a legal guardian for your kids who will taken over the parental role in the event that you’re no longer able to, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you pick the right person.