Read This Before You Leave Your Children with A Babysitter
The third year of the pandemic is beginning, and it is easy to note how fragile our lives and health really is. Unfortunately, we have seen many of our loved ones extremely sick, maybe even including yourself, and many who have died in the past two years.
Although serious illness and death are everyday risks, this pandemic has forced many of us to face our own mortality like no other times. Some of the most unimaginable scenarios are happening much more frequently than before, and it is vital to prepare properly for these situations.
The Risk:
Even if you take all the necessary precautions to not become sick, the fact remains that due to this pandemic, we are all extremely vulnerable to serious illness or injuries. If you are a parent, one of the scariest scenarios of this reality is that if something were to happen to you, your children would be left without your care, whether it be permanent or temporary.
Taking this into consideration, this might seem far-fetched for your situation. However, consider this situation: You and your significant other are out to dinner, and your kids are home with the supervision of a babysitter. On your way home from dinner, you get into a car accident. When you fail to make it home, the babysitter has called you several times with no response, leaving them with no alternative but to call the police.
The police arrive and find your kids with the babysitter, who has offered to stay with the children until a relative can be found. However, because the babysitter does not have legal authority to become a legal guardian of the children, the only option is for the authorities to take your children into custody until they can locate and/or appoint the proper guardian.
Unfortunately, unless you have left proper legal documentation appointing someone, the authorities have no option but to call Child Protective Services. Not even friends or family living nearby willing to care for the kids can be appointed unless you have left proper legal documentation appointing them.
Perhaps your will has established who is appointed. Nonetheless, unless you have died, your will does not become operative. Or maybe the appointed guardian lives far away, in which case until they do not arrive, the children will be placed under the Child Protective Services. In fact, does anyone even know where your will is located or have to get access to it?
Guardianship:
Above I mentioned a specific scenario, however, there are so many other situations where this could happen, leaving your children without your care, in the hands of strangers. Lamentably, this is quite common in families who have worked with lawyers; most lawyers do not know what is crucial for planning and guaranteeing the care and well-being of minors.
Kids Care Plan:
Nevertheless, we are trained to help you create a comprehensive system for the care of your children, known as the Kids Care Plan. This plan offers parents of minor kids a variety of legal planning tools to ensure there is never a doubt about who will take care of the children in the case of an accident or an illness.
What is Included?
The Kids Care Plan includes several instruments to create the most detailed and thorough explanation of who is responsible for the care of your children, in the case that you can no longer do it.
With the plan, the following are all included.
- Legal documentation appointing a short-term guardian, ensuring your child will not be in the hands of no stranger.
- Informative letters for those appointed as short-term guardians, for there to be no confusion in the case they are called upon.
- Descriptive instructions explaining what to do in the case you are involved in an accident.
- Legal documents appointing a long-term guardian, which will avoid family conflicts.
- Letters for those appointed as legal guardians, informing them what to do in the case they are called.
- Thoroughly detailed instructions for long-term guardians explaining how you want your children raised, including your values, morals, stories, etc.
- Medical powers of attorney for the minors, ensuring they receive the medical care they need in the case the long-term guardian is not around at the moment of the incident.
- A customized personal identification card for your wallet stating that your children are at home and who to contact.
Although this pandemic will be remembered for the critical and tough times, this pandemic has taught everyone how much we should cherish our own lives. Hopefully, people have taken the initiative to prepare themselves for the unimaginable, as it is not quite expected. In the case that you do not have your children under proper care in the case of you experiencing an accident or suffering an illness, feel free to contact us today. Meet with us to learn more about our Kids Care Plan!
