Just after some advice on whether or not to make a will. Single mum to a 2yo. With partner for 2 years before we had a baby, then he left just after baby was born, came back into our life 6 months later and we were together for a year before I left him. He is a big ice user and I had just had enough. I moved back in with my parents who are wonderful support. We live an hour away and he has visited twice in 4 months however I take our child to his parents house almost every week. He rarely asks about our child, he disappears for weeks at a time and his parents have no idea where he is (he lives with them) and he lost his job due to a failed drug test.
I constantly worry that if something were to happen to me, our son would automatically go to him. Where we live now is a big house with a big backyard, everyone has their own room, he is in daycare while I work and my parents help out and follow his routine. At the fathers house they smoke inside the house and there are no extra rooms for the child and his parents work a lot not to mention the parents constantly argue like crazy.. To the point of a physical altercation on the rare occasion. If i were to make a will stating that I want care of the child to go to my parents or even my sister and her husband.. Would it make any difference at all?? There is currently no parenting orders in place as I don't want to HAVE to drive an hour each way every single week so they can see him. They all know that they are welcome to come here whenever they want to see the child but the effort is never made. My concern is not about the effort, it's about my child being put into the care of an ice addict who cannot even take care of himself let alone a child.
2 Replies
I would be consulting a lawyer about this, or the State Trustees in your state. They can advise what's likely to happen in the event of your death and how you can plan for the care of your little one in that event. A lawyer should give you a free first consultation and may be able to give you some information as to how to go about getting everything put in place.
I would think, though, as a rule, a Will is always a very good idea, particularly if you have kids. If you have assets or any superannuation/life insurance that will be passed onto your child a Trust would need to be arranged to ensure the money/assets are best used for his care as he grows up.
You should do a will regardless. A will is your legal wishes, without it your family will then have to apply to a court to become the administrators of your estate to be able to take control of your assets when you pass and close anything down.
Most people believe they have nothing but if you have super, you will most likely have life insurance (not all super funds but on most). It is then a painful process for them to go through to be able to claim any of that. Banks, super funds etc will not just release money to your mum or dad etc etc, they will want a will, if they don't get a will they will want letters of administration (in qld) which is an application to court and costs about $2000 to do.
As for your son, I would stipulate your parents or whoever as caregiver in the event of your death but also write a statement in your own handwriting stating the reasons for your decision so then your parents have that in case of court being the resolution for that dispute. I work in law and I have had no problems placing my parents on my will as guardian of my minor child at the date of my death, I also had to write a statement as to my decision but at the end of the day it can be taken to court by the father to get custody of the child. You can't stop it from happening but you can help prevent it.