Will????

[fitgrl]

Hey ladies,

Have you done a Will and if so, how did you chose your child(children's) guardian??
I know that it is kind of an eerie post but something that dh and I have been struggling with.. We are very close to both sets of our folks so we could never chose and it's the same situation with our siblings. Such a hard decision but one that we need to make eventually!

Let me know if it's something that you've thought about.

[kmsnj]

We did ours when I was pg with DD. It was kind of a depressing chore but completely necessary (our lawyer said it is much more expensive to drag these things out in court than to pay for a will). The guardian choice was very obvious for us--DH's brother and his wife. My brother is younger by a few years, still single, and could not and would not want to raise a child. We also had to list a backup guardian in the event that my BIL and SIL died at the same time as us (depressing again I know!). For now we put the grandparents but maybe after time we will change the backup to my brother if he ever settles down.

[mheatherm]

Hello,

I think we just had this similiar thread over in Community Forums Personal Finance Board. You may want to check it out. It covers some other important things like durable health power of attorney, etc.

Guardians are a hard decision. We chose my parents based on their youthfulness and finances. My husbands parents are in the 2nd position (in case my husband and I along with my parents are all gone)....however we are going to switch that to one of my favorite aunts.

One other thing to consider is finances. You'll want to make sure that whoever becomes the guardian gains all of the money from your death. That way they can support your child financially.

Some people with a considerable amount of wealth choose one person (sometimes a family attorney) to dole out the money and another person to watch the child. It separates the two function.

Good luck. Keep us posted,

Heather
North Carolina

[Jen]

DH and I just did our wills/trusts. We decided that my brother and his wife would take our DD. (of course we discussed with them first)

We had DH's father as the one in charge of the money, but it goes to my brother as he needs it for Jess.

I feel so much better now that it's done. I know that everything is in order for our Little one if anything should happen to us.

[Climbinchic]

We did ours when we were (very) pregnant. I hated doing it or even thinking about it - but have some peace of mind knowing its done.

Guardians were easy - my (only sibling)sister and her husband, they're young, have lots of family support and have a daughter only 5 months older than Ben.

Back up was not so easy - but is DP's brother and his wife - they were second b/c they are older, English is a second language for them and they don't see Ben regularly. I love them, but honestly - we have friends I'd be more comfortable leaving him with or my parents - even as back up - but they are family in the end. It's a tough, tough call for sure. Only other option was my SIL - and she's a fruit loop, I hate even leaving him with her for an hour....