Question about Godparents/Guardians/Wills etc

[CoffeeMum]

We have asked good friends [married couple] to be godparents to our two DC. We all see their role as being about having a special fondness for our DC, looking after them from time to time, treating them a bit. It's all working out well.

We've also said that we'd like them to take on our DC if anything happens to both of us, and they have agreed.

Now, do we have to formalise this arrangement? Do i have to inform anyone that they are to be legal guardians in the event of the worst happening? Should i see a lawyer? And what about money? - we need to update our wills to leave everything to our DC, 50/50 split between them, but do i need to put this in trust or something?

Should add - the godparents are marvellous in almost every way, but aren't necessarily the most financially responsible types, and do believe money is for spending on fun [and why not!] Would be quite up for arranging a monthly allowance for the support of the DC - I assume you can arrange such things?

Oh dear, i'm horribly ignorant about all this - hope someone out there is wiser than me and can shed a bit of light.

Thanks in advance

You can, and should, put it in your will. You can specify the guardians and that they will be trustees for your DC. Not sure about the monthly allowance side, but if they were trustees they are legally obliged to act in your DCs best interest.

Thanks tinierclanger. So you literally just put in your will that x and y will be guardians of your children and nobody can argue with that?

Also - trustee means that they take care of the financial side doesn't it? Am half wondering about having a different trustee to take care of the money...

Our current will is one of those kits from WHSmiths . I assume that's not going to cut the mustard when it comes to the guardianship of your children?

Thanks for your reply

Thanks tinierclanger. So you literally just put in your will that x and y will be guardians of your children and nobody can argue with that?

Also - trustee means that they take care of the financial side doesn't it? Am half wondering about having a different trustee to take care of the money...

Our current will is one of those kits from WHSmiths . I assume that's not going to cut the mustard when it comes to the guardianship of your children?

Thanks for your reply

Ooops, sorry for repetition

CoffeeMum - you definitely need to do a will via a solicitor. Find one who is a STEP practitioner (society of trust and estate practitioner), and they will be able to help you with the trust side of things as well.

(a thought I had though - if you don't trust these guys with your money, are you really really sure that they are the best people to become your DCs parents?)

Hello,

We did this recently. You do need to speak to your friends and make sure they know that you want them to take on this role. It is then written into the will that you want X and Y to be guardians. We were advised to make other people responsible for the financial side of things. The guardians would then ask the trustees if they needed money from our estate. All the ins and outs are explained when you have it done. I think we paid almost £200 for both our wills.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for your replies - sorry to come back so late to the thread, so busy lately!

Lukewarm - good tip about the STEP accreditation, I will definitely look for that. I know what you're saying about whether i'd want people who are not that financially responsible to be the guardians for my DC. However, they really are fabulous in every other way, they care so much about DC, and are wonderful friends. They are really not disastrous in the sense of baliffs calling, gambling debts etc. They just have a slightly 'F* it, let's bung the new outfit on the credit card' attitude, and while i don't think they're going to run off to Rio with the proceeds of our estate, i could perhaps imagine them dipping into it a tiny amount, for a holiday say, fully intending to put it back in, but not quite managing too. It's more flakiness than irresponsibilty IYSWIM. With the important issues about the welfare of DC, well, i'd trust them with their lives, and i know they'd make them very, very happy.

But a good thought, and one that i had to consider myself.

Jolly Bear - thanks for your experiences. Interesting that you were advised to make the trustee separate from the guardians? I wonder if concerns like the ones i have are quite common, or if it's just a 'two heads are better than one' theory.

Thanks all, advice and input much appreciated