Please note. This happened to a real family and these circumstances could have been avoided if they knew about legal guardianship.
If you have Children and you have not made a Will then PLEASE PLEASE make it a priority NOW.
I had the sickening and sad experience yesterday for the 2nd time in my 10 years of doing my role where a family did not make a Will and they had minors. THIS IS 2 TIMES MORE THAN IT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED.
The children have been taken into Care as there was no legal (in the eyes of the courts) person available with parental responsibility.
I am afraid to say IT HAPPENS !!! If you die and you have not made a Will which will nominate who you want as legal guardians o (if you have it done by an expert) and there is no person surviving with LEGAL parental responsibility then the Courts / local authority can and most likely will place the children into care while THEY make the decision of who is the correct person to carry out the care / guardian duties. This is why legal guardianship is such an important issue. Many people wrongly think that god-parents will assume parental responsibility but they have no rights of legal guardianship.
Now I do not write Wills as I am a probate expert but I am in the fortuitous position of knowing many fantastic and expert Will writers Nationally.
Please make this a priority and (although you should have a Will for many reasons) I am sure you will all agree this can be the one which causes the most devastation and most people I speak to are UNAWARE.
I will happily speak to anyone (FREE) about the pitfalls of not having a Will and will explain what you need to consider.
Please do not put this off.
Anyone who knows us knows we are always educating and ensuring people speak to the experts and sadly this is a post we did not want to post on the back of a real life scenario this week.
It wont happen to me……..
I will let the family decide ……..
I do not own anything of significant value so I do not need a Will ……
My parents will look after the children ……..
The god-parents will assume legal guardianship ……..
And so on – I do not go a day without hearing an incorrect statement.