Free legal services are available for those who can’t afford to hire a lawyer via local law schools, the American Bar Association, or pro bono organizations like Public Counsel. ![]() While you can draft a will online, when making plans that involve the well-being of your child, it’s best to enlist the help of an estate lawyer who can better foresee potential complications or blind spots. “But if you don’t weigh in on it, you risk the fact that the court might make the decision without any input from you.” “It could be a bit of a fracas where multiple people are trying to take over.” There’s no deadline by which to name your child’s legal guardian, he said. “It’s really important for parents to weigh in,” Ted Froum, an estate lawyer based in Evanston, Ill., said. Older children (14 and up in most states) get some say in where they end up. If the child is too young to have a say, multiple parties might put in a petition to serve as guardian, resulting in a possible court hearing. ![]() If you and your partner die without having made a directive, the court jumps in to evaluate the child’s best interests. “It’s why people don’t step on cracks.” But failing to select a guardian for your child could mean chaos after your death, she said, including the possibility that your child could be put in a foster home. “I get how it can be a thing,” said Kryss Shane, a social worker who has counseled children whose parents died unexpectedly. It’s time to get over any superstition or fear of discussing death. Here’s what you need to know to make a decision that could save your family time and additional trauma after a tragic loss. I’ve spoken with four estate lawyers, a matrimonial and family lawyer, a social worker and two families who were affected when young children lost parents unexpectedly. “Death isn’t an option for us,” one mother told me.īut bad things do happen, and though it’s impossible to prepare for many of them, making plans for your child’s care in the event of your untimely death is a concrete step you can take to help ensure his or her future well-being. I was even more surprised at how many said they had never made a will in the first place. When I asked some parent friends about their own estate planning, I was surprised at how many said they, too, wanted to change their original decisions. But somehow actually making the call to our estate planner to start the process keeps slipping down my to-do list. Giving her two additional kids to look after? I can’t do that to her. When we first made the decision, we chose my cousin, who at the time had two kids of her own. I keep meaning to update my will to change my children’s guardian, or the person my kids would live with if my husband and I were to die unexpectedly.
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