Robinson ♦ Thatcher, LLP

This post is the next article in my series started on the things you should do to get your house in order so that you can have peace of mind knowing that your family is take care of in the event that something horrible were to happen to you.

I began the series with some information on the importance of having a written guardian nomination document and I promised that I would discuss some of the things you ought to take into consideration when choosing WHO you want to name as guardian for your kids.

What you probably didn’t know is that there are two kinds of guardians that you can nominate: 1) guardian of the person and 2) guardian of the estate. A guardian of the person is responsible for providing day to day care — things like food, shelter, taking the kids to school and the like. The guardian of the estate is responsible for the financial estate you may have left your children.

The guardian of the person and guardian of the estate can be the same person. However, in my opinion, it is better to have some checks and balances in the system. Having separate guardian of the person and estate means that there are several people whose job it is to watch your babies if you can’t be there to do it your self.

In my next post in this series, I’ll discuss the guardian of the person in more detail. Until then, if you have any questions or concerns I urge you to contact me or another estate planning attorney.

Wishing you peace.