Guardianship Issues and Problems
I recently had a conversation with the local probate judge for the largest county in Iowa. She commented that she is seeing more and more litigation involving guardianships. With second marriages and changing family dynamics, I don't believe it all that unusual to expect these issues to continue to escalate and increase in the coming years. Unfortunately, whether it is a guardianship for a 2 year old or a 92 year old, there are bound to be issues and potential problems with the various individuals involved.
Michael Bonasera, of the Ohio Trust & Estate Blog noted in a recent article
that less than 1/4 of parents have a will. That is truly a scary percentage, although the odds of something happening to both parents are not very high. Michael speculates that more parents aren't going through this process because they have difficulties coming to grips with the realization that they can't trust their friends to raise their kids. I often see a struggle with parents trying to decide whether a family member should raise their kids or close friends. Then you throw in issues with the other family member having their own kids, maybe in a different school system, different city, what about excluded family members, which family to choose from -- all this can lead to procrastination. When it comes down to it, most people feel that no one could raise their kids as well as they could and typically the different choices have different strengths and weaknesses.
I'm currently involved with several different guardianship battles. They are ugly, nasty battles. Many of them could have been resolved if the appropriate individuals had taken steps previously to establish their choice of guardians. Don't make the same mistake. Execute or update your will and communicate with the proper individuals about your wishes.
Michael Bonasera, of the Ohio Trust & Estate Blog noted in a recent article
that less than 1/4 of parents have a will. That is truly a scary percentage, although the odds of something happening to both parents are not very high. Michael speculates that more parents aren't going through this process because they have difficulties coming to grips with the realization that they can't trust their friends to raise their kids. I often see a struggle with parents trying to decide whether a family member should raise their kids or close friends. Then you throw in issues with the other family member having their own kids, maybe in a different school system, different city, what about excluded family members, which family to choose from -- all this can lead to procrastination. When it comes down to it, most people feel that no one could raise their kids as well as they could and typically the different choices have different strengths and weaknesses.
I'm currently involved with several different guardianship battles. They are ugly, nasty battles. Many of them could have been resolved if the appropriate individuals had taken steps previously to establish their choice of guardians. Don't make the same mistake. Execute or update your will and communicate with the proper individuals about your wishes.
