Who gets custody of my child if I die?

jules6810

RAS wrote: »

As his name is on the birth certificate he has PR and if he demands residence, only social services could really prevent it.

To be honest this is what I pretty much thought, from what I had read. Thanks very much, I guess I will sort a will, and have my wishes put in there anyway. There are some issues that may prevent him from getting custody, for a start he does not currently have a home. However, this could change at any time I guess.

jules6810

FBaby wrote: »

Then being on her birth certificate, he would have automatic parental responsibility for her. Unless you context this, it will be much more easier for him to gain custody even if you put it in your will you don't want him too. Most likely it would go in front of a judge (if he contested the will) and would be up for your family solicitor to make a claim why you didn't want him to have custody and evidence of why it wouldn't be in her interest to live with him.

Would I need to put reasons in my will?

Prothet_of_Doom

If he had a child in his care, he'd be entitled to a home.

FBaby

Maybe you could write a letter to your parents about things that have happened as to why you would prefer they had custody rather than him and keep this with the will. You could also keep a diary that would be easily accessible where you could note any concerns that erupt. In the end, you most likely will need to evidence that she would be at risk with him living with him.

In the end, it would most likely come down to two things, evidence of risks if under her care, and how much he is prepared to fight for custody and how much your family can afford to fight him back.

DUTR

jules6810 wrote: »

Would I need to put reasons in my will?

You can't put reasons in the will itself, the will is not a place to air personal vendetta, and to be honest, assuming he is no danger to the child's welfare that is officially recorded, then you can't stop him making a request that would naturally be offered.
Just two other points though, he's not a waste of space, he gave you a beautiful child and the other is, you will survive a good few years yet for it not to be an issue.
I know about the will thing cos I specifically excluded my offspring should the inevitable happen too soon, the reasons have to be put it an seperate letter.

TonyMMM

You can't leave a child to anyone in a will, nor expressly stop anyone having involvement (if they are otherwise entitled). You can express your wishes, but they do not have to be folowed.

In the first instance, as he has parental responsibility, he would be the person who would be expected to take her, and he would be allowed to unless social services had a very good reason to believe it was not in her interest.

Mojisola

jules6810 wrote: »

Would I need to put reasons in my will?

Remember that your will becomes a public document after probate. Don't put anything in it that you wouldn't want the world to read.

You can keep a letter with your will explaining in detail your reasoning behind wanting your child to be brought up by someone other than her parent. Emphasise the positive aspects such as the regular contact between your family and your child and the closeness of their relationship and explain the problems that have lead to the cutting off of contact between the child and her father.

paddedjohn

TonyMMM wrote: »

You can't leave a child to anyone in a will, nor expressly stop anyone having involvement (if they are otherwise entitled). You can express your wishes, but they do not have to be folowed.

In the first instance, as he has parental responsibility, he would be the person who would be expected to take her, and he would be allowed to unless social services had a very good reason to believe it was not in her interest.

^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^
You can make recommendations in your will regarding your children but they are not possessions that can be willed to someone, once you have gone its up to others to decide what's best for them and that could mean their father, your parents or even social services.

peachyprice

You cannot will a child to anyone, full stop.

You can express wishes as to who you would prefer to be a legal guardian when you die, but the wishes of a father with PR's rights overrides this entirely.



Edit:
Sorry, replied after reading first post, I see others have said the same

FBaby

You can however put any assets that would go to her into a trust and have someone else to be guardian of that trust so he has no access to her money. This is what I did.