69% of parents have not named legal guardians for their children. Of the 31% who have, most have made one of 6 common mistakes. That means that if you have minor children at home (or children with special needs), it’s time to review your plan for their care if and when something happens to you.

One of the biggest mistakes that parents make is naming guardians inside their Will instead of a separate document. By naming guardians in a separate document, you’re giving someone that you trust the legal authority to immediately take and care for your children if you were ever unable to be with them. Without naming guardians in a separate document, your children could be placed into the care of Child Protective Services while the court determines who has the authority to take them. Yes, it would likely only be temporary, but it’s something that can be avoided with a little bit of advanced planning.

Another big mistake is only naming long-term guardians for your children. When you think of guardians, you probably think about who it is that’s going to raise your children and care for them until they’re old enough to care for themselves. But, it’s also important to name short-term guardians for your children. Imagine short-term guardians as your first responders who could get to your children quickly. These short-term guardians are typically people you know and trust who could be to your children in 20-minutes or less and would be willing to keep your children until you could get back to them or until the long-term guardians could get to them.

To learn more about the 6 Common Mistakes, please click here.

If you and your spouse/partner can’t agree on who would be the ideal guardian(s) for your kids, that’s something we can help with. We have special training to help parents work through this critical decision.

If you do nothing, the decision about who would raise your children if something were to happen to you would be left for a judge to decide. A judge who doesn’t know you, doesn’t know what’s important to you, and doesn’t know your children. A judge will make all the decisions about who cares for the people who are most important in the world to you.

We know that’s not what you want.

And, the truth is… there may never be a perfect solution for you, but there is definitely a solution that is better than your children being raised by someone you didn’t choose.

Maybe you’re thinking, “If we don’t anticipate it, it will never happen. Right?”

But, if that were true, we wouldn’t need things like insurance or any other type of protection. You can’t predict when bad things will happen.

Fortunately, there is a sensible approach to the selection of a guardian for your children. And, we can guide you through this important decision.

In addition, we’ll guide you to put in place a comprehensive Protection Plan that will make sure you’ve handled all 7 must-dos when it comes to ensuring the well-being and care of your children so they’re protected no matter what.

Call us to learn more or use the button below to schedule your Planning Session.