Guardianship Of Your Children

In Canada, you have the right to appoint more than one guardian for your minor children in the event that you and your spouse perish in an unfortunate accident. Many people choose a primary guardian or guardians and a substitute guardian or guardians to ensure a secure future for their children. You can also choose to appoint a single person as a guardian or substitute guardian, or a couple as guardians or substitute guardians. For any assistance with the guardianship process and expert legal advice in guardianship matters, get in touch with our skilled and experienced guardianship attorneys in Ottawa. Our lawyers can help you through the entire process with the least amount of hassle and have your child’s guardianship matter resolved in no time!

A substitute guardian is a person who would step in and become the guardian of your minor children in the event that your primary guardian was unable or unwilling for whatever reason to accept that responsibility (death, injury, changing circumstances, etc.).

As you consider whom to appoint as the guardian(s) and substitute guardian(s), make sure you consider that the courts and the law are both very careful to make sure that people who are appointed as guardians of minor children are capable of acting as such, given the heavy responsibility it entails. So, even though a person or persons are appointed as guardian or guardians of minor children, they must still bring an application to a court of competent jurisdiction within 90 days of your death to be appointed as the permanent guardian of the minor children. This is mentioned in the Wills we draft. This prevents people from becoming guardians of minor children when circumstances may have made it inappropriate for the potential guardians to become the actual guardians of the minor children in question.

These are important decisions, so we understand it takes time to settle on your intentions. Please let us know how you would like to proceed.