It is often suggested that you select a guardian to step in and take care of your children if something were to happen to you. You may be wondering exactly what capacity a guardian would fulfill, and how comfortable you may be in having someone else care for your child. You may also consider appointing more than one guardian, so that your child’s needs are truly being met.
For many people a guardian would ideally take the children into her home, and care for them as her own. She would nurture and watch over them until they became of age. She would provide support, love and guidance. In this case you may want to have the guardian you select have the same value system that you do, so that these values will be passed down to your children.
In other instances a guardian may look after the interests of the child, and leave the day to day care to someone else. Often these types of guardians send the children to boarding school, and will check up on the children periodically. They will be there to be an advocate for the child in the major issues, but may not spend a significant amount of time with the child.
You may choose to have a primary guardian who will nurture and care for you child everyday, but appoint someone else to act as the second type of guardian. One easy way to do this is to establish a trust in your child’s name, and have someone other than the guardian oversees it, and the overall interests of your child. This is an easy way to provide a check and balance system for the welfare of your child.
In the foster care system, many states are beginning to have a guardian/advocate program where the child remains in foster care, but a volunteer becomes the child’s advocate in court, school, and other important decisions for their lives. This prevents the children from becoming a number or from getting lost in the system. It is helping the states, and a similar plan might work for your children as well.
Related Articles:
Choosing Your Child’s Guardian
Planning Trusts and Guardianships