Have You Chose Your Kids' Legal Guardian?

Yes we have. We tried to find a married couple who we spend a lot of time with so our kids are familiar with them, who have most of the morals and values we do so that they can pass them along to our children, who have the same/similiar views on discipline that we do, who we know will raise our children basically like we would do if we were here, and who loves our kids and who our kids love.

Hopefully the couple we've chosen will never have the opportunity to raise our kids, but if they do, we feel comfortable that they will do a great job.

Chelsey and Devan would each go to their mothers...however, I know and hope that my MIL would fight Chelsey's mom for custody...and Tori would go to my sister...her husband had 3 kids from a previous marriage and then got a vasectomy so my sister wasn't able to have any

Aaron's Godparents are my husband's cousins, very good Christian people who are raising two boys.

that was a hard choice nearly 4 years ago, prior to the birth of our 1st child (Madeline now 3 1/2 yrs). we ended up choosing my best friend from HS and her fiancee. we did not want our parents raising kids in their retirement, my DH's brother and SIL were out of the question, as was my sister and BIL. we were split btween by DH's childhood bestfriend and his wife, who had a baby boy 5 months before our daughter was born and my best friend. my friend was chosen b/c we felt that she would be more involved in our children's lives on a daily basis and that she would give equal time to both sides of the family. well, then i got to know her fiancee much better after they married and moved to florida. it was clear that he was not ready for anything, even a dog. and at that time i was pregnant with my 2nd child (Cameron now 1 1/2 yrs). what a nightmare. i was afraid that if something should happen tomorrow, custody of my kids would break up my friends marriage and/or my kids would get in the middle of a bad situation. so i had to take it back. which was horrible. we re-evaluted and ended up choosing one of my husband's oldest and dearest friends (not one of our originals ironically), so close that they call each other cousins, and his wife. both are fantastic, well rounded people with values similar to ours. we are much more comfortable with this decision, so i guess everything happens for a reason. of course, i hope we never have to cross that bridge. . .

sorry for the long reply. . . i am new to the boards and just had to share this story for anyone out there wrestling with this huge decision. good luck!

We chose Richs brother and sister in law. They have wonderful family values are very sweet people and we know the kids would be cared for wonderfully!

I'm married to an attorney and my dad is one, you think I could avoid choosing a guardian and drawing up a will??? We chose my sister and her husband for the boys, Olivia's is my best friend's charge, but I want them together and my sister and best friend know that. Because my sister is much older than me (20 yrs) , my best friend has already told me she would take all three.

This has sort of been discussed between my DH and I but we have not come to a concluesion.

My SIL hurt me deeply by stating in her will she wanted her 1st childs godparents as the people to raise her kids just because she does not have any. She has this in her will and I am hoping some day it will change. I and DH are the ones that are there for our neices for everything. These people are not.

I still dont know who would raise my kids. I would hope that Brittanys god father and his wife if they would. They also live in Ohio though and I would want me kids to be here just for grandma Suzies (Mil) sake. I guess you can say it is still in discussion.

At this point I have no idea. Originally...it was to be one of my SIL's and her husband. Well they got a divorce and there are all sorts of really bad issues there. So then we decided on a very close cousin of mine. Well she got sick and has all sorts of problems and is now going through a divorce as well. So....I am not sure? I know we want them to go where there will be a mom and a dad and we want them to be here in Indiana so they are close to our families...I am just not sure who would take them!

We picked my BIL James and his wife. It was an easy, no brainer choice for us. We picked whomever had a stable home and was not mentally unbalanced. The stable home was the easy part. The mentally balanced was not. We still need to get it in writing.

We decided that Jerm's parents would take the kids.

Jerry and I still have not totally decided on this oneyet.....My SIL Judy is one choice, but her and her SO have just split up and she has her hands full wtih Gavin (who is 6 1/2 with Downs)....and she has an 11 year old DD too......sooooo would we feel right "dumpign" our two kids on her....it was an easier choice (sort of) before we had 2 kids. I know that Judy would give my family unlimited time with the kids

The other choice is my mom andstep dad...I know that my mom loves the kids to pieces...but does she really want to raise 2 kids again if soemthign were to happen to me and JErry???? I know that my mom would have no problem with letting Jerry's family spend time with the kids.

Soooo we have no idea yet

My parents. For us it wasn't a tough decision. I know even if my parents are retired, they still have enough money to support two more kids. And my kids are extremly close to my parents. If by some chance my parents are gone then it is to be my brother and his wife. They already offered and we were going to ask anyways

Kyler goes to Dee and Scott.
It was an easy decision for me. They have Ryan who is 12 days older than Kyler. Plus, Dee and I have basically all the same beliefs and morals.

I have to admit though, Dan was a little more stubborn on this. (Surprise, surprise.)
He felt that Kyler should go to his brother - since he's brother and his wife can't have kids.
Dan's a nice guy - I understand that. But it took some discussion for Dan to realize that although that would make Dan's brother happy it was NOT in Kylers best interest.

So now, we both agree - Kyler goes to Dee and Scott. (Which of course, the 2nd baby will do the same as well.)

We have wills, yes, but I work for an attorney so I got them done for cheap (free).

But you can shop around for an attorney and the money you pay for the peace of mind knowing that you have things settled and arranged is well worth it.

We have talked about it, but no decision has been made. This has really been on my mind lately, and it bothers me. I hope we never have to deal with it, but...

DH is an only child, and although I have siblings, I would not subject ANY child to being raised in their homes. DH's opinion is that he should go to my inlaws because they are the only other family he has ever known. They will raise him the way DH was raised. Now, DH turned out OK, but I've seen the way they treat Jonathan, and they let him get away with murder. And I don't want my child being a holy terror. On the other hand, they didn't let DH do anything--they were entirely too hard on him. And I don't want him being raised that way, either. My parents would not see to it that he was raised in church, which doesn't meet with our wishes. And although my mom is in her 40's, my stepdad is in his 60's and that's just not a possibility for them.

Brandon and Justin would go to John's sister if anything were to happen with us. It is just our understanding and both families know it. Same with her daughter, we would get her if something happened to SIL and her husband. We just need to do it in writing. Since both families know our wishes, we aren't worried about fighting, but better safe than sorry.

We've discussed it, but have not yet made a final decision. More than likely, it will be my oldest bro and his wife. Both our Moms
are too old (78 and 65 respectively ).

Rhyne and any other children we will have will go to my parents. I know they will raise them like they did me and they will never want for anything. They will be sent to college and never thrown onto the street, no matter how old they are when they are still living at home.

Logan would go live with my Brother and SIL, they have a three year old daughter as well as one more on the way right now. they have wonderful morals and they have the means to be able to support him. The only downside would be that they live out on Vancouver Island and that is a long long ways away from our parents.. although our dad is just happy that we have come to this conclusion it is worth the drive.