Guardianship assignment at death of both parents

[amor159]

Dear All, my wife and I are the parents of a young daughter. We all live in London but have no family members in the country. We are setting up Wills to ensure our daughter will receive best cares if something was to happen to both of us simultaneously.

Our wish, as it stands, is for our nanny to gain temporary guardianship of our daughter until my sister in-law is able to travel from South America to pick up my daughter, becomes the permanent guardian and travels back to South America with my daughter.

Questions:

1) With the assumption that there will be no health & safety concerns from the police or social services, will my nanny be immediately authorised to be a temporary guardian on the simple fact that our Will states it?

2) same question for my sister in-law? will she be able to travel back to South America and leaves the UK with our Will stating that we authorise it? this is considering a situation where both parents have passed.

3) is there a procedure that the police and/or social services must follow in such cases?

Thank you very much in advance for any help you can provide in this matter.

Kind Regards

A.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear amor159,

Welcome to the Parents Forum. I am Suzie, FRG’s online adviser. Your questions are not entirely in our remit, but I will answer those parts that I can. You should also seek advice from a solicitor who specialises in wills and probate.
You and your wife are both making wills and want to appoint testamentary guardians for your daughter. Testamentary guardians will gain legal parental responsibility as soon as a parent dies as long as there is no one else with parental responsibility who is still alive.
I am not sure whether you can appoint someone as a guardian only temporarily, but a solicitor can advise.
If you did not appoint your nanny as a guardian, she can still care for your daughter and safeguard her and promote her welfare under s3(5) Children Act 1989 for a time (for example until your sister in law arrives). However, she would need to advise children services, as she may be a private foster carer.
In answer to question 1, yes your nanny (and your sister in law if appointed as well) would get parental responsibility straight away so a court order would not be needed.
In answer to question 2, if your sister in law was the only person with parental responsibility, she would not need the consent of other people to take your daughter out of the country. However, I cannot advise about the law around migration. You should check with you the passport office if you are British citizens or your embassy if you are not, about what travel documents might be needed, along with your daughters passport.
In answer to question 3, the police would not be involved in these circumstances. Children services are also unlikely to be involved. If they did become involved, because someone had made a referral to them or because the guardian was seeking help from them, they would want your daughter to stay with someone she knows and within the family or friend network, such as the nanny, until long term plans for your daughter had been sorted out.
I hope my advice helps but I strongly advise you get further advice from a solicitor who deals with wills and probate.

Best wishes,
Suzie

[amor159]

Thank you Suzie. We are progressing with a professional but your answer is much appreciated. Kind Regards