I think Prudie may have missed the boat on this one, with the advice given. In many states, the guardian of a minor child is determined by the court, not by who are the God parents, who was named in the will, etc. Unfortunately, Child Prot. Serv. or others will determine what is best for the child and it could take a long time, while the child is left in foster care or with a close relative, regardless of the parents wishes. I am the guardian of such a child, of whom I was not related to nor even knew the parents. I have a friend who was the admin of her sister/bro-in-law will and also named in the will as the guardian of the childen, in the event of their deaths. Guess what? The court gave the children to the cousin on the fathers side. This was not the written wishes of the parents. I had asked in my will, that my best friend raise my children, in the event of an untimely death. Luckily, they are not all adults and I am still alive. When my toungest turned 18, I wrote her a nice note of always being in the place, should we have ever needed her and that now she could rest - and not worry! Just know that my cases would be decided by the courts. Better check with a lawyer on this while you are having that will written. And be sure to get the medical power of attorney, etc. done, too! Who is gonna decide if they should pull the plug..../////cjr

Wow how sad and ridiculous that parent's wishes aren't abided by...I mean sure if the person they named is a crack head then yeah they're unsuitable...but otherwise I really dont think its okay for the will to be disreguarded...

That's one reason the guardianship should NOT be established through the will, but through a separate form. The will is read after the funeral in most cases. Someone has to care for the kids till then. If they are placed with Cousin X, the courts tend to leave them there, rather than to move them again.

Self-service wills and other legal documents may seem easier, and certainly cost a lot less. However, in this case, you may be getting what you pay for. When it comes to your kids' well-being, it's worth the money. After all, would you hire a mail-order surgeon if their appendix needed to come out?

In most circumstances, when the will is read (in private, days or weeks after death, by a lawyer - those "reading of the will" ceremonies in books and movies exist mainly in books and movies, I'm afraid) the children will already have guardians and the courts may not wish to move them.

Guardianships, funeral instructions, and personal health directives should never, NEVER be in a will and should never be put in a safety deposit box. It can take weeks for the executor to get a court order to open the safety deposit box - if anyone knows it exists, where it is, and whose name it's under - and by then the same problem exists.

In fact, it's really a bad idea to have the only copy of your will in your safety deposit box. If you (or for couples, both of you) are killed, who knows that you have a safety deposit box, let alone where it is?