Considerations when selecting a guardian for a child

As a parent in Missouri, the care and well-being of your child or children is of primary concern to you and becomes a vital component of the decisions you will make when creating your estate plan. To that end, the choice of who you might name as a guardian for your children in the event that you should die while they are still minors is perhaps one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. Just how should you make this choice?

As tempting as it may be to automatically assume that a grandparent, aunt or uncle are the best choices for your child’s guardian, that may not be the case. The Balance indicates that is not really about familial relationships but about true skill in many areas that should be evaluated. Among the factors to be considered are the age and emotional, mental and physical health of a potential guardian. A grandparent with serious health issues may be limited in their ability to parent a young child, for example.

A person’s fiscal responsibility is also important as it does take money to raise a child. Also, you should remember that your child will be living with the guardian and therefore that person’s political, religious and moral views and practices will become part of your child’s everyday world.

If you would like to learn more about some of the things you should consider when developing your estate plan while your children are still young, please feel free to visit the child guardianship page of our Missouri estate planning website.