Video: Does the person you designate in your will as guardian of your children have to take your children?

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

Hi, I’m Sarah Siedentopf, an estate planning and probate attorney in Atlanta, Georgia.

So my question for today is, if you designate someone as the guardian of your children in your will, do they have to take your children? And the answer, like most things, is no. They do not have to take your children. What you are doing in your will is telling the court that legally this is the person that you would like to have control of your child and take care of them. However, there is no way to actually force someone to take your child or children as guardian. This means that it is very important to actually talk to the people that you are designating as guardians and backup guardians because you want to be sure that if something happens to you that your children will have a guardian. So, if you have questions about that, please feel free to give me a call. Otherwise, do designate a guardian in your will and absolutely, positively talk to them about it and don’t make it a surprise. Thanks.

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