Who will take care of your children when you are not able?
Are your children protected if something happens to you? That question most often arises when we are about to go on a trip and leave the kids at home. Sure, a lot of us scramble to pull out that dusty Will to see who we named as guardian of our children if we should meet our untimely demise, and then maybe scramble to get the Will updated because the person we named several years no longer works out for the position.
What happens if you're injured?
But what happens if you're injured and not able to get to your kids or care for them? There is another document that covers this possible situation. It's an Interim Guardian Nomination. An Interim Guardian Nomination allows you to designate someone of your choosing to take temporary care and custody of you children until you, or your nominated guardian in your Will (if a different person) can take the children. It's a fairly simple document that you can add to the repertoire of estate planning documents that are designed to protect your family and your assets. The Interim Guardian Nomination nicely fills a gap and helps to provide more complete protection for you and your family.
Our Most Precious Gifts
Without any other indication, the natural parents of a minor (a child under 18 years of age) can only give informed consent for medical treatment of the minor. Even a stepparent does not have the authority to give legal consent to medical treatment for a minor stepchild unless the stepparent has legally adopted the child or been designated a legal guardian. So without the proper documentation your child may be at risk when you're not available.
Sending the kids away for spring break or to summer camp? Hosting grandchildren or the neighbor's kids? What if one needs a doctor or dentist? Will the child get treatment if no parent is there? Let's face it, you can't be with your child 24/7. Another document, a Medical Release Form protects your child and gives you peace of mind, and it doesn't take a lot of effort at all. Children are our most precious gifts.
What can you do?
If you haven't already addressed this important issue in your estate plan, you can utilize the following documents, "Interim Guardian Nomination" and "Medical Release Form", in our resource section as a first step.
You can also start now by expressing this and other wishes on Wishes4Life
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Legal | tagged Children, Guardian, Travel, Wishes, express your wishes, spring break, summer camp, vacation Permalink Print Article