Nominating guardians in your will

When preparing a will, many people focus on the issue of protecting their financial assets or issues surrounding inheritance tax which are all relevant and very important issues when planning for the future.

However, even if you don’t own a property or you think that you don’t have enough assets to justify making a will, if you're a parent, you have an extremely important person/s to protect, the one thing that is the most precious thing in your world, your child or children.

A will doesn’t just cover issues over wealth and asset protection but it is a vital tool for family protection. The thought of not being there for your children is something that many of us do not want to consider, but for some families this is a reality that they have faced.

Therefore, by naming a guardian/s in your will, you have nominated the person who you would want to be responsible for your children. By appointing guardian/s you can ensure that your child or children are looked after by the people that you have chosen, this may be because they are family or because they are people who have similar values to you and would bring your children up in a similar way to you.

Guardian/s can be named in the will however I always recommend that you speak to your proposed guardian/s to make sure they are happy to take on the role. This also allows your proposed guardian/s to ask any questions or raise any concerns so that you can all discuss the possibility together.

This is probably the most important appointment you will make, as a guardian will be responsible for the day to day care of your children and will be entrusted to make decisions about your children’s upbringing, health and education as well as being responsible for their welfare.

If you would like to discuss the issue of appointing guardians further please contact a member of the Wills and Estate planning team.