twitter facebook stumble upon rss

Who'll Raise Your Kids If You Die?

by kate tuttle  posted Friday, October 15, 2010
filed under: kate tuttle
sign up for the momlogic newsletter Tweet This

Guest blogger Kate Tuttle: OK, so it's a topic no parent wants to think about too deeply. But the idea of who would raise your children if you and their other parent both died is at the heart of a new romantic comedy opening this weekend. "Life As We Know It" stars the impossibly attractive Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel as battling singles who are forced to join forces, move into a picture-perfect house and raise a lovely little baby after the kid's parents die. And although the movie has a happy ending (as these movies must), it's pretty much a roadmap of what not to do.

Life as we know it
First off, godparents are not guardians -- unless, that is, you go to a lawyer and write a will in which you specify that they are your child's guardians. Simply asking someone to be a godparent, or even involving them in a church ceremony in which they promise to guide and support the child, does not cut it. If you die without a will, the state will quite happily award your children to the most logical next of kin, who could be a particularly loathsome mother-in-law or that cousin you barely know. 

So really, everyone who has a child should visit a lawyer to talk about a will. Once there, most lawyers will advise parents to select guardians of at least two different kinds: those who will guard your child's estate and help manage his or her inheritance until the age of maturity, and those who will actually raise the child. If your child's guardians live far away, it's also wise to select a temporary guardian who can instantly take custody if needed. And although some parents do name multiple guardians to share the care of their children, it would be highly unusual to select two single people who hate each other but are both really super-hot and who you know will totally fall in love while bonding over poopy diapers. Unless, you know, your life is a Hollywood movie.

Under no circumstances should you select guardians, name them in your will, then forget to tell or ask them about it (as happens in the movie). Seriously, this is worth a phone call. If you love and respect someone enough to entrust them with your child in the worst-case hypothetical of your death, can't you manage to have this conversation with them? Guardians should not be shocked to find out they are guardians! 

The movie looks cute as can be, but parents who go see it for their date night this weekend should be advised: Don't do what they do. If you haven't already, go see your lawyer and make sure your children are protected if the worst should happen.


next: Jon Gosselin Fights to Keep Kids out of Spotlight!
56 comments so far | Post a comment now
Solardude April 1, 2011, 10:32 PM

Hi, there - I have to admit, I’m impressed with your site. I have no trouble navigating through all the loss and info was super easy to access. I found things i wanted very quickly whatsoever. Pretty awesome. Would be thankful if you add forums or something like that, it would be a perfect method for your customers to interact. Congrats!

Yohimbin HCL Fettabbau April 2, 2011, 4:11 AM

Hallo! Sie haben hier einen einzigartigen Weblog! Ich bewundere speziell das Design und die Farbintensität! Alles Gute weiterhin! P.S.: Eventuell magst Du auch mal auf meiner Seite rund um Yohimbine HCL & Yohimbe vorbeischauen? Yohimbine HCL maximiert die Fettverbrennung und zählt zu den besten Fatburner Supplements! Bis dann, Berthold D. Leopolds

wpolscemamymocneseo April 2, 2011, 8:16 AM

It’s the best time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I wish to suggest you some interesting things or tips. Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article. I want to read more things about it!

Private Jet Rentals April 2, 2011, 11:38 AM

I dig your website design, did you create this by your self or pay a designer to build it?

Tracey Borrell April 2, 2011, 12:24 PM

seventy nine; one

Carpet Cleaning April 2, 2011, 9:23 PM

Awersome Post! I am so glad I found this. This is just what I was looking for. Thanks for the post. I’ll definately visit again! Dan

pond maintenance Boise April 3, 2011, 10:09 PM

Undeniably imagine that which you stated. Your favorite reason appeared to be at the web the easiest factor to understand of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while people think about issues that they just don’t recognise about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top neatly as defined out the entire thing without having side-effects , people can take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thanks

Life Plus vitamins April 3, 2011, 10:40 PM

It’s wonderful to have a look at sites together with data and thanks rather a lot for the share that may you’ve done. Usually, I’m fairly amazed, however and so forth

rankpay April 4, 2011, 11:49 AM

Hey compañero, realmente tenido gusto este poste. Can’ t parece conseguirlo para dar formato a la derecha en Internet Explorer, se dobla todo para arriba, pero no trabaja muy bien en Firefox tan ninguna preocupación.

Roof Repair April 4, 2011, 4:52 PM

When are you going to post again? You really entertain me!

SolarRebates April 4, 2011, 8:36 PM

Hey this can be a great looking site, is this wordpress? Forgive me for that foolish question - but when so, what theme is this? Thanks! :-)

artikel April 4, 2011, 11:35 PM

Real clear website , regards for this post.

antique silver jewellery uk April 4, 2011, 11:43 PM

Thanks for making the honest attempt to discuss this. I believe very strong about it and want to learn more. If it’s OK, as you acquire more intensive wisdom, would you thoughts adding more articles very similar to this one with additional information? It will be extraordinarily helpful and helpful for me and my friends.

scrapebox April 5, 2011, 9:52 AM

Hello. Thank you for posting this!

make money writing April 5, 2011, 1:19 PM

I was just seeking this information for a while. After six hours of continuous Googleing, finally I got it in your web site. I wonder what’s the lack of Google strategy that don’t rank this type of informative web sites in top of the list. Generally the top websites are full of garbage.

BMW forums April 5, 2011, 9:04 PM

I was just doing some web browsing on my Blackberry during my spare time at work , and I happened across something I thought was intriguing. It linked over to your site so I hopped over. I can’t really figure out the relevance between your site and the one I came from, but your site good anyway.

cleaning services April 5, 2011, 9:25 PM

Gracias por compartir su maestría en esta área. Hay mucho Info inútil en esto que flota alrededor y aprecio su trabajo duro.

customizable t-shirts April 6, 2011, 3:51 AM

I am speechless. It is a excellent weblog and really attractive too. Great paintings! That’s no longer in reality a lot coming from an beginner publisher like me, however it’s all I may just say after diving into your posts. Nice grammar and vocabulary. Now not like other blogs. You really realize what you?re talking approximately too. So much that you made me want to discover more. Your weblog has develop into a stepping stone for me, my friend.

Fatburner mit Ephedra April 6, 2011, 4:25 AM

Hey ho! Toller Blogg! Info Website Fatburner Nahrungsergänzungen sind unterstützend beim mega Abbau von Körperfettdepots! Lieben Dank!

program tv April 6, 2011, 5:56 AM

Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to far added agreeable from you! By the way, how could we communicate?


Leave a reply:



(not displayed)

     




Avoid clicking "Post" more than once
Back to top >>
advertisement

featured gallery

Gwen Stefani and Family at the Park

momlogic tweets

recent activities