By Deanne Gage and Sun Life staff
July 25th, 2023
If you have kids, you need to name a guardian for them when making your will.
As a parent, you want to protect your children should the worst happen. You want to be sure the best possible person is ready to step in and finish raising them for you. With some careful planning, you can put that protection in place — and hope your children never need it.
- Ask the guardian first
- Consider all the angles
- Remember to include contact information
- Name a back-up guardian
- Separate the roles of executor and guardian
Consider these steps to help you make this important decision.
69% of Canadians most likely to have young families (ages 35 to 44) don’t have a will. And a significant percentage of older Canadians have out-of-date wills. If you have children, your lack of a will may be due to more than just procrastination. Parents tend to delay making wills, says independent financial planner and advisor Mark Halpern, of Markham, Ontario. “It’s not that they don’t think it’s important,” he says. “It’s because they don’t know who to name as guardian for their kids.”
