Roles of Godparents & Legal Guardians

By Lianne Macdonald.

Godparents and guardians can both play an important role in the life of a child but they have different origins and their roles are also different.

Although, in the Christian faith tradition, godparents were once legally responsible for caring for an orphaned child, today godparents do not have any legal responsibility.  The child’s legal guardians now assume the role of the parent if the parent has passed away.  A godparent can still help the parent raise a child by providing spiritual guidance and support to the child.

Godparents are usually appointed by the parent at the child’s Christian baptism.  Legal guardians are most often appointed in the parent’s Will.  Appointment in a Will is the best way to make sure that the parent’s wishes for legal guardians are respected.

Often godparents do not change during a child’s lifetime, whereas legal guardians can and often do change.  As personal circumstances change, and families relocate and grow, that child’s legal guardians might need to change.  The consent of a former legal guardian is not required to appoint a new legal guardian.  Likewise, a parent who has made a Will without appointing a legal guardian for a child can change the Will at any time to add an appointment of a legal guardian.

Of course, the same person can be named as both a child’s godparent and as legal guardian!  However, as they have different origins and roles, they must be appointed separately to each role.

Testimonials

I wanted to say thank you for your help with making out our wills. We have not needed legal advice until now so I was not looking forward to searching for a lawyer that I trust. You made the whole process easy to understand and my wife and I feel that, with your guidance, we were able to make the proper decisions in regards to our children’s future. I would have no problem recommending you as you are friendly, professional, you listened to our needs, and you are affordable. Thank you for helping us know that our children will be safe and secure if we aren’t around to take care of them.

C.V.

This is just a quick note to let you know how much we appreciated your personal service in preparing a power of attorney for my mother last month. As you know, Mom is quite challenged with the English language and she needs a lot of clarifications. Your draft given to her ahead of time, your use of regular language rather than legalese and your patience with her in your office meant so much to her. She was just as much at ease as when she conducts business in her native French language. So, once again, many thanks for the human touch.

G.D.

I can’t say enough about our satisfaction with Lianne Macdonald. She was extremely patient and understanding and helped us attain our wishes with our will. She gave legal advice but helped us to fulfill our wishes in a way that worked for us.

B.L.

Del was patient, considerate, listened to my issues and treated me with professionalism and respect. Del put in extra thought in drawing up my will by thinking through the legal consequences of different options.

D.M.