One of your biggest motivating factors for estate planning may be to ensure that your children are provided for after your death by nominating a guardian. Ideally, this would happen after you have lived a long life and your children are grown, but unfortunately, an unexpected accident could leave your children without a parent much earlier than expected, perhaps when they are still minors.

For this reason, it is essential to include a nomination of guardian in your will and eliminate uncertainty surrounding who will care for your minor children. At Smith & Williams Trial Group, we will work with you to draft a will that includes this important element, and we can also assist with the process of nominating a conservator for yourself in the event you become incapacitated.

Nominating a Guardian For Your Minor Children

When parents are unable to care for a child because of their death, incapacitation, or otherwise, the court generally must appoint a guardian to care and provide for the child and make decisions in his or her best interest. The best way to ensure that the court appoints a person whom you trust is to nominate a guardian in your will. You should consider your choice of guardian very carefully. Make sure the person you nominate is willing and able to care for your children, and try to find someone who already has a relationship with them. In many cases, a close relative or family friend is a good choice.

If your children’s other parent is still living and has parental rights, he or she will need to nominate the same guardian or consent to your nomination of guardian. It is also a good idea to identify a few possible guardians in order of preference in case one of them becomes incapacitated.

The guardian for a minor child can make decisions regarding both the person and the estate, as follows:

• A guardian of the person is responsible for providing for the child’s regular needs, including food, shelter, clothing, and health care, as well as making decisions regarding the child’s education and upbringing.
• A guardian of the estate is responsible for managing and making decisions related to the child’s assets, including those left to them in your will, and is required to make these decisions in the child’s best interest.

You may nominate the same person as guardian of both the person and the estate, or nominate separate guardians for each.

Nominating a Conservator For Yourself

You may also wish to account in your estate plan for a situation in which you become incapacitated and unable to care for yourself or make important decisions. One possible measure to provide for your care and that of your assets is to nominate a conservator. In Florida, conservators serve in much the same role as guardians, except that they are responsible for an adult rather than a minor. As with a guardian, you can nominate a conservator of either your person, your estate, or both.

It is important to note that your will is not the right place to nominate a conservator, as it only takes effect after your death. Instead, you can create a separate nomination of conservator, or include it in your advanced health care directive. Another option instead of a conservator is a health care power of attorney, which allows you to grant decision-making authority to a person you trust without requiring court approval.

Contact A Central Florida Estate Planning Attorney

While you can hope that guardianship of your children or conservatorship of yourself never becomes necessary, by no means does this mean that you should not plan for it. Contact us today at 321-872-7573 to get started with a free consultation. We serve clients throughout Central Florida, including but not limited to: Orlando, Winter Garden, Winter Park, Kissimmee, Apopka, Sanford, Lake Mary, Oviedo, Daytona Beach, Tampa and Lakeland