The first thing I tell parents is not legal advice at all. Put a note on the refrigerator for the babysitter, for whoever is there: do not call the police, call this person. Your neighbor, your sister, your friend. Then make it legal. A short-term guardianship designation, kept at the school, at daycare, in the glove compartment, with the car seat, so that in the first hours and weeks after an accident, someone your child knows and trusts can step in. It is easy to create, it does not cost much, and it is lifesaving.
What I Said
From my September 10 Parents Edition workshop at the Cambria Hotel in Calabasas, lightly edited for readability.
On your fridge there has to be a note to your babysitter, to whoever comes: "Do not call police, call this person." My neighbor, my sister, my niece, my friend, whoever, not police. And of course there are legal documents that you can place in school, at daycare, have that in your glove compartment in your vehicle, or at the car seat. The form is called short-term guardianship.
First hours, and probably first weeks from the event, either a disability or death, make sure that somebody will step in and take care of your child. Somebody they know, somebody they trust, somebody that you trust will take care of them. And that short-term guardianship form, easy to create, doesn't cost a lot, and it's lifesaving.
The full talk, written down: Who Picks Up Your Child From School if You Never Come Home?
More on this topic: Wills
More From the Workshop
- The Form That Keeps Police and CPS Out of the First Hours
- Date Night, a 16-Year-Old Babysitter, and a Phone That Never Answers
- Judges Cannot Read Your Mind. Name Who You Do Not Want.
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Attorney advertising. This content is general information, not legal advice.