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Why might a child be appointed a legal guardian?

When it comes to making important decisions about children’s lives their parents often fill the role of judgment makers. Parents in Springfield regularly make choices about how to have their children treated for medical conditions, how they will have them educated and how they will be raised. Making decisions about their children’s well-being are critical responsibilities in the lives of Massachusetts parents.

However, from time to time a child’s parents may not be available to make decisions for them or may not have the capacity to make choices that serve the child’s best interests. In such situations a child may have a guardian appointed for their care and, generally, a guardian may be selected by the child’s family or may be selected by a Massachusetts family law court.

It is often the case that parents include in their wills and other testamentary documents provisions that stipulate who may serve as guardians of their children if the parents die while their kids are still minors. Courts will often honor these provisions in the tragic event that the children’s parents are deceased; if a selected guardian is inadequate or unavailable to serve a court may have to use its power to appoint a person in the original individual’s place.

Guardians provide the children that they serve with the materials that make up the kids’ basic needs as well as the care the children may have received from their parents if they had been able to stay under their custodial control. Although not every parent will see their child come under the control of a selected or court-appointed guardian, the prospect of having someone step into their parental role can be overwhelming. Individuals who are in the process of choosing guardians or having their children placed with guardians are encouraged to discuss their legal questions with family law attorneys.

Additional Source: http://family.findlaw.com/guardianship/how-to-establish-guardianship-of-a-child-faqs.html