The prestigious BBaby Magazine has reported our survey findings and echoed the advice of my colleague Rachel Carrington-Matthews who’s a legal expert in wills and inheritance. The worrying fact is that the majority of parents simply don’t know the difference between the naming of a godparent and the appointment of a legal guardian..and they really need to. Whilst its a scenario simply too awful to even contemplate, if your children lost both of their parents at once and you hadn’t appointed a legal guardian, it might be left to a complete stranger to decide who should bring them up. However devoted and responsible their godparents might be, they’d have no legal standing to act in ‘loco parentis’.
Many UK parents are unaware of the role and responsibility of a Godparent versus a Guardian regarding the future of their children
Now that Royal baby Archie Harrison has been Christened, speculation is rife as to who his parents have chosen as Godparents.
New research by Hedges Law finds, however, that nearly nine out of 10 UK parents have no legal guardian for the care of their children, with more than a third assuming the role lies with the Godparents; consequently putting any potential future decision over their childs care in the hands of the Family Courts. Over a third of parents questioned for the survey mistakenly believe that a Godparent has the same legal rights and responsibilities as a legal guardian, unknowingly leaving any potential future decision over their childs care for the Family courts.
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