A guardian is an individual to whom a judge or a will gives the legal responsibility to care for a child or an adult who does not have the capacity for self-care. The appointed individual is often responsible for both the care of the ward (the child or incapable adult) and that person’s financial affairs.
A guardian’s role is to look after the best interests of a minor child (i.e. a child under age of 18 years) for whom they have been appointed guardian. This means that you should not choose the other parent of your children to be the guardian of your children.
The guardian will be responsible for making decisions regarding the day-to-day control and care of your children, including decisions about their upbringing, education, health and welfare. Accordingly, a decision to nominate someone as a guardian is a serious decision that should be made carefully.
Do young people need a Will?
Don’t leave anything to chance Remember when your parents used to say that you were growing up too fast? And you thought, it’s not fast enough! The thing about growing up is that before you know it, you get swamped with mortgages, insurances, paying taxes,...
Who needs a Will?
A Will is one of the single most important documents a person can have; yet, so many of us put off dealing with it for far too long. Many Australian’s assume that they’re “too young” to need a Will. Some people believe that they don’t own enough assets or have a big...
What is a beneficiary?
A beneficiary is a person who receives all or part of the distribution from the deceased estate. There are two types of beneficiaries that are included in Wills. It’s important to understand the difference so that you can think deeply about how you’d like to divide...
What is an executor?
An executor is a person (or sometimes more than one person) named in a Will to carry out the wishes of the Will-maker after their death. Often solicitors or specialist trustee companies are named as executors. The most critical activity undertaken by the appointed...
What is a Will?
A will is a legal document that spells out your wishes regarding the care of your children, pets as well as the distribution of your assets after your death. Put simply, a Will is a legally prepared and bound document that states your intentions for the distribution...