“Who would look after my young children if I were to die?”

Whilst it is clear that family members would rally round in a tragic situation, it is not always clear who would be granted the legal responsibility for the children. Indeed, there could be competing claims from different family members all wanting to do their best for the youngsters.

The best way to avoid all the arguments and to be confident about what would happen is to write a Will and to clearly appoint a Guardian in it.

A Guardian takes on parental responsibility for your children. Normally the role takes effect only if both parents have passed away. A Guardian does not have financial responsibility for the child’s money - that is the role of the Executors/Trustees who you also specify in your Will.

Sometimes it is appropriate to nominate the same person to be Guardian and Executor/Trustee. However, often it is a good idea to separate the roles. That way you pick the most appropriate person as Guardian to give the children personal care, and the most appropriate person to look after the finances as Executor/Trustee. Also, separating the roles reduces any conflicts of interest and means that more people are charged with looking out for the youngsters.

Hopefully the roles of Guardian and Trustee are never required - but by creating a simple Will you can be sure who would take care of your children and who would look after their money.