LivingTrustify's Guide to Choosing a Legal Guardian for Your Kids

Stephen Wood, Content Director at LivingTrustify, details 3 easy steps you should take today to plan for your children's wellbeing.

Stephen Wood

When my wife and I did our estate plan, the hardest choice we had to make was who would be the legal guardian for our kids if something happened to us. In this Coda doc, I want to give you some insight and tools to help you with the decision making process. Follow the handy guide along with interactive tables to help you make the important decision of who to name as legal guardian for your kids.

Once you’ve chosen your legal guardian, visit

LivingTrustify⁠

to complete a personalized nomination of guardian form in minutes and at no cost!

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Copy this doc

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to get started, then follow the steps below.

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Step 1: Brainstorm a list of people you trust.

The first thing that you can do is list all the people you can imagine raising your kids. Of course, no one could ever take your place perfectly, but don't let that fact keep you from naming a legal guardian! If you don't name one, it could cause contention among your relatives as they argue over who should be the legal guardian and the courts will have to decide for you.

So go ahead and list as many people or couples that you can. If you can't think of anyone, then try to get your mental juices flowing by listing people that you would NEVER want raising your kids!

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Add a potential guardian

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People I trust to raise my children

People I trust to raise my children

Name

Relationship to me

Sally Jones

Sibling

Barry Knight

Parent

Kim Fowler

Friend

There are no rows in this table

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Step 2: List some must-have traits of your children's legal guardian.

Now that you have your list of potential legal guardians, list some must haves when it comes to raising your kids. It could be location, age, lifestyle, religion, parenting style, marital status, or an existing positive relationship with your kids. Among the must haves that you listed, choose the top three or four.

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Add trait

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Must-have traits

Must-have traits

Location

Financially savvy

Similar lifestyle

There are no rows in this table

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Step 3: Match the list of people you trust with your important characteristics, and choose primary and backup guardians.

Next, take your first and second list and start to match the must-have traits you listed with the people. You will probably start to see a natural hierarchy. Keep in mind that you should name at least one legal guardian and a backup guardian.

Choose a guardian