Your children should NEVER be left unprotected. Not even for a day.
(478) 723-3543
Protect your children. Plan today.
You can’t always be there for your children. But you can make sure someone you trust always can.
Imagine you’re driving home from dinner when another driver runs a red light.
You’re taken to the hospital, unconscious. Your spouse is with you and is also injured.
Your children are at home with a babysitter. Or perhaps they’re waiting to be picked up from school.
Who has the legal authority to care for them?
Who can pick them up? Who can take them to the doctor if they get sick? Who will make sure they stay with someone they know and love?
And what happens if you don’t come home?
These aren’t questions any parent enjoys thinking about. But they’re among the most important questions you can answer for your family.
At Fletcher Estate Planning, we help parents answer those questions through our Kids Safety Plan—a comprehensive set of legal documents and personal instructions designed to protect your children when you cannot be there yourself.
Because protecting your children means planning for more than the unthinkable. It means planning for the unexpected.
Give your children the protection they deserve.
Call (478) SAFE-KID — (478) 723-3543 to learn more about creating your family’s Kids Safety Plan.
A Will Alone Isn’t Enough to Protect Your Children
Many parents assume that naming a guardian in their will is all they need to do.
But a will primarily addresses what happens after you die.
What happens if you’re alive but temporarily unable to care for your children?
What if you’re hospitalized after an accident? What if you’re unexpectedly detained, stranded out of town, or otherwise unavailable?
What if your child needs medical attention and you’re unreachable?
And even if you’ve named someone to raise your children in your will, what happens during the hours or days before that person can arrive?
Your children need protection today—not just a plan for someday.
That’s why our Kids Safety Plan addresses both temporary emergencies and long-term care.
What Is Included in Your Kids Safety Plan?
1. Temporary Guardian Nominations
Someone you trust. Ready to step in when you can’t.
Life doesn’t always give us a warning.
An accident, medical emergency, unexpected hospitalization, or other crisis could leave you unable to care for your children—even temporarily.
We help you legally nominate trusted adults who can step in to care for your children when you are unavailable.
Your plan identifies the people you want contacted and provides documentation of your wishes and the authority available under applicable law.
The goal is simple: minimize confusion, uncertainty, and disruption for your children during an already frightening time.
Because when your children need help, they should be surrounded by familiar faces—not strangers.
2. Medical Authorization for Your Children
So a trusted adult can help your child get the care they need.
Imagine your daughter develops a painful ear infection while you’re hospitalized. Or your son needs to see the dentist while you’re unexpectedly out of town.
The situation may not be a life-threatening emergency, but your child still needs care.
Without proper authorization, the adult caring for your child may encounter obstacles obtaining medical or dental treatment.
We prepare medical authorization documents designed to allow the people you select to arrange and consent to appropriate healthcare for your children within the limits of Georgia law.
That can include ordinary doctor’s appointments, dental visits, and other non-emergency medical needs.
Your child’s healthcare shouldn’t have to wait because someone can’t reach you.
3. Long-Term Guardian Nominations
You choose who should raise your children—not leave that decision to chance.
No parent wants to imagine their children growing up without them.
But if that tragedy ever occurs, one of the greatest gifts you can leave your children is clarity about who you want to care for them.
Who shares your values? Who will provide the love, stability, and encouragement your children deserve? Who will raise them in a home where they feel safe and wanted?
We help you carefully consider and formally nominate the people you want to serve as your children’s long-term guardians if neither parent can care for them.
Although a court may ultimately need to approve a permanent guardianship, your nominations provide important guidance about your wishes.
Don’t leave one of the most important decisions of your children’s lives unanswered.
4. Personal Instructions to Future Guardians
Because raising your children involves so much more than providing food, clothing, and shelter.
No one knows your children quite like you do.
You know what makes them laugh. What frightens them. What comforts them when they’re sad. What traditions make your family special.
You know the relationships you want them to maintain, the values you want them to learn, and the dreams you have for their futures.
We help you prepare personal instructions for the people who may one day raise your children.
Your instructions can address:
- Your children’s personalities, emotional needs, and individual interests.
- Your family’s values, faith, beliefs, and traditions.
- Your preferences about education and extracurricular activities.
- Important relationships with grandparents, siblings, extended family, and close friends.
- Special medical, developmental, or educational needs.
- Family memories, celebrations, and traditions you hope will continue.
- The kind of upbringing and opportunities you envision for your children.
These instructions give future guardians something no legal document alone can provide: a window into your heart as a parent.
They help the people caring for your children understand not just what you wanted for them, but why.
Your Children Need More Than a Name on a Piece of Paper
A Kids Safety Plan is about more than preparing legal documents.
It’s about making sure that, during one of the most difficult moments of your children’s lives, the adults around them know what to do.
It’s about giving the people you trust clear instructions instead of leaving them scrambling for answers.
It’s about preserving the relationships, routines, values, and family connections that give your children a sense of belonging.
And it’s about giving yourself peace of mind.
You can’t promise your children that nothing bad will ever happen. But you can promise you’ve done everything you reasonably can to protect them if it does.
Who Needs a Kids Safety Plan?
If you have children under the age of 18, you should consider having a Kids Safety Plan.
It’s especially important if:
- Both parents work or travel regularly.
- Grandparents, relatives, or babysitters frequently care for your children.
- Your preferred guardians live in another city or state.
- You are a single parent.
- Your children have special medical or educational needs.
- You have strong preferences about who should—and should not—raise your children.
- You want to ensure your children maintain important family relationships if something happens to you.
Even if you already have a will or revocable living trust, your family may benefit from the additional emergency protections included in a Kids Safety Plan.
At Fletcher Estate Planning, Our Family Is Helping Your Family
We know your children aren’t just names on legal documents.
They’re the reason you work hard. The reason you plan for the future. The people you love more than anything in the world.
As a family-centered law firm, we understand that estate planning isn’t just about protecting what you’ve earned.
It’s about protecting who you love.
Attorney Jim Fletcher and the team at Fletcher Estate Planning help Georgia families put thoughtful protections in place for the people who matter most.
We’ll guide you through the important decisions, prepare the appropriate legal documents, and help you communicate your wishes so the people you trust know how you want your children cared for.
Our goal is to make the process straightforward, personal, and reassuring.
Because at Fletcher Estate Planning, our family is helping your family.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a Kids Safety Plan if I already have a will?
Yes, you may still benefit from one. A will can nominate guardians to care for your children after your death, but it may not adequately address temporary emergencies while you’re alive. Our Kids Safety Plan helps address those gaps with temporary guardian nominations, medical authorizations, and personal care instructions.
Can grandparents or other relatives be temporary guardians?
Yes. You can nominate trusted adults, including grandparents, relatives, or close friends, subject to applicable legal requirements. We help you consider who would be best suited to care for your children and prepare the appropriate documentation.
Can someone else take my child to the doctor or dentist?
With appropriately prepared medical authorization documents, you can give trusted adults authority to consent to certain healthcare for your minor children, within the limits of applicable law. This can be particularly valuable when you are traveling, hospitalized, or otherwise unavailable.
What if my first-choice guardian isn’t available?
We can help you nominate alternate guardians so your wishes remain clear even if your first choice is unable or unwilling to serve.
Will my guardian instructions be legally binding?
Your formal legal nominations and authorizations have legal significance, subject to Georgia law and any required court approval. Your personal instructions are generally intended as guidance rather than binding directions. They can nevertheless be invaluable in helping future caregivers understand your children, your values, and your wishes.
When should we create a Kids Safety Plan?
Ideally, as soon as you have a minor child. You should also review your plan as your children grow, your family circumstances change, or the people you’ve selected become unavailable.
If Something Happened to You Tomorrow, Would Your Children Be Protected?
You probably have insurance for your home. Insurance for your car. Maybe even insurance for your phone.
But have you made a plan for the people who matter more than all of those things combined?
Your children are counting on you to protect them.
Make sure that protection doesn’t end when you can’t be there.
Call Fletcher Estate Planning today to discuss your family’s Kids Safety Plan.
(478) SAFE-KID [478-723-3543]
Protect Their Childhood. Preserve Your Wishes. Plan for Their Future.
Fletcher Estate Planning — Our Family Helping Your Family.