Guardianship: Choosing, Asking, and Documenting

Guardianship is the question behind every other estate planning question for new parents. If both parents are gone or incapacitated, who raises this child? The answer is not automatic. Without a documented nomination, a court decides, using whatever information is available, on whatever timeline the system allows. With a nomination in a valid will, the same court has a clear starting point and, in the vast majority of cases, follows it. This guide covers how to evaluate candidates, how to have the conversation, how the legal categories differ, what a letter of intent contains, why one name is never enough, and when to revisit the whole decision.