Chosing a Guardian:

Dedciding on who is going to be the guardian of your minor children is a tough question, and it's hard to think about leaving your kids with somebody else, but there's a few things that I typically suggest on thinking about.  First of all, in North Carolina, until they're 18, they're considered minor, so you definitely want to appoint a guardian in your document.  Some things to think about, if your children have allergies, will they be going to a home where they could potentially be allergic to any animals in there?  Will they be needing to move out-of-state?  Being down here in the Carolinas, a lot of people aren't from the Carolinas, so we have family in other states.  Think about the transition that your children will have to make: they've lost both of their parents and now they're going to have to move from North Carolina to another state.  Thing about the number of children that those guardians that you appoint already have in their house.  Will it be too much to take care of your kids?  Think about what school district they might be in.  Are they comfortable where they are?  Do you want to keep them where they are?  Think about, you know, do your children like those guardians that you potentially picked for them?  You may love them, you may think they're great, but if the personalities don't match, you're really not doing your children a favor; you're making it, actually, worse.  The one thing that I do suggest every single time is before you commit to it, amke sure that you've spoken to the guardians, and see whether they want that responsibility or not.  Typically when I plan for clients, I plan on, "tomorrow you're gone; will they be able to take them tomorrow".  And thinking about that, reviewing your documents every few years, ask them again. Tthings may have changed.  So you want to make sure you think about those, and there's a whole other list of things, too, that I'm sure will come to your mind.