Your choice of a guardian will greatly affect the future of your children. The guardian would take your place if you were to die with minor children in your custody. Of the many factors to consider when choosing a guardian, the most important one is finding someone willing to take on this tremendous responsibility. Its always a good idea to select alternate guardians as insurance if your first choice is unable or unwilling to fulfill their role.
The passing of a parent is traumatic enough and you would like to make the transition as smooth as possible. In the great majority of cases, the guardian does not live with you and the children must go to live with the guardian. Geography can be important and the physically closer to you the guardian lives, the less disruptive the change may be. A child will adjust a little easier if they can stay in the same schools and sports leagues.
Other factors that you may wish to consider are the parenting style of the guardian. This is much easier to determine if the potential guardian has children of their own, especially if the children are close in age to your own. Likewise, you would hope for some agreement with the guardian’s personal, moral, and political beliefs. No two people are alike, but you are looking for some general agreement.
A very important factor that comes into play is the financial situation of the guardian. If your children have to go to their home, is there enough room? Will the guardian family be able to literally feed another mouth or two or three? If you are comfortable with the answers you are receiving from the possible guardian, hopefully they will say yes.
Stephen Unsworth
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