Parental Testamentary Appointments of Guardians for Children

Abstract:     
Who decides the right person to raise a child whose parents have died? Although many parents believe that the appointment of a guardian they make in a will for their child is binding, in fact courts in many states can choose to ignore parental wishes. Nearly half of U.S. states vest the power to appoint a guardian with the court, which can consider issues in addition to – and in some cases as a priority over – the parent’s testamentary appointment. States are divided into two categories: court-appointed states, where the court has the ultimate power to appoint a guardian, and parent-appointed states, where the parent’s appointment controls (subject to certain limitations). This article describes the status of state law within these categories of court-appointed and parent-appointed states, and explains why statutes ought to be reformed to insure that courts cannot ignore a parent’s testamentary appointment of a guardian.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 25

Keywords: wills, guardian, minor, child, testamentary

Accepted Paper Series