# Appointing guardians for your children in your will (England & Wales) > Family & care · Last updated 26 May 2026 Canonical HTML: https://moneyguide.org.uk/family-life/appointing-guardians-in-your-will/ Markdown mirror: https://moneyguide.org.uk/family-life/appointing-guardians-in-your-will.md ## Quick answer If you have parental responsibility for a child under 18, you can appoint a guardian in your will to take over after your death. If you have parental responsibility for a child under 18, you can appoint a guardian in your will to take over after your death. Without one, the court decides — and a contested guardianship application is the worst possible introduction to grief for a bereaved child. ## Key facts - Authority comes from s5 Children Act 1989. Anyone with parental responsibility can appoint a guardian; the appointment must be in writing, dated and signed. - A testamentary guardian only takes office once there is no surviving parent with parental responsibility — so a guardianship clause in both parents' wills only bites if both die. - Guardians have parental responsibility but are not financially responsible for the child. Provision is made through the will: typically a trust holding the family home and pension death benefits. - Talk to the intended guardian before naming them. The role can be declined; an appointment refused at the point of crisis is harder to handle than one declined politely years before. - If you don't yet have a will at all, the appointment has nothing to sit in. An [online will](https://swiftwill.co.uk/) for a simple England and Wales estate (from around £35) typically includes a guardianship clause as standard — solicitor-backed platforms from around £90 do too. ## Who can be a guardian and when the appointment starts Anyone aged 18+ can be appointed. Most parents choose siblings, godparents or close friends. The appointment must be in writing — a will is the cleanest option — and signed and dated. The appointment is dormant while another person with parental responsibility is alive. So in most two-parent families, the guardianship clause only activates on the second death. Where parents are separated, the surviving parent normally has automatic priority unless the court decides otherwise. An appointment can be conditional or sequential — for example 'my sister, but if she is unable or unwilling, then my brother'. A sole appointment is simplest; a joint appointment of a couple risks falling apart on their separation. ## Money — making the role workable Guardians are not personally liable to support the child financially. The will should make practical financial provision: typically a discretionary trust giving trustees flexibility to release funds for school fees, housing costs and a contribution to household expenses. Many families separate the roles: one person as guardian (the day-to-day carer) and a different person plus a professional as trustees (the money managers). This avoids putting one relative under both emotional and financial strain. A letter of wishes alongside the will can set out priorities — schooling, religion, contact with extended family, holidays — without locking the guardian in legally. ## Separated and unmarried parents An unmarried father only has parental responsibility automatically if he was named on the birth certificate after 1 December 2003 (England & Wales). Without it, he cannot appoint a guardian and his testamentary appointment has no legal effect. Where parents are separated, an appointment in the will of the parent the child lives with takes effect only if the surviving parent does not have parental responsibility or has been removed from the picture by court order. Otherwise the surviving parent steps up. If you have serious concerns about the surviving parent, the will alone cannot remove their parental responsibility. The intended guardian can apply to the court for a child arrangements order, but this is a fight on top of grief — get specialist family-law advice while you are alive. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does the court have to follow the appointment? The court treats a testamentary appointment as the parents' clear wishes and will normally give effect to it. It can override the choice only if the appointment is contrary to the child's welfare under the s1 Children Act paramountcy principle. ### Should we name a couple or an individual? A sole appointment avoids issues if a couple later separate, but means the named guardian has no automatic legal partner. If you do name a couple, make sure the will deals with the position if they separate — typically by reverting to one named person. ### What if our chosen guardian moves abroad? A UK guardianship clause is not automatically recognised in every jurisdiction. If the guardian lives or moves abroad, get specialist cross-border family-law advice — particularly for Hague Convention countries and the EU. ## Primary source https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/section/5 ## Related - [How to write a will (UK)](https://moneyguide.org.uk/family-life/how-to-write-a-will-uk/) - [Trusts basics (UK)](https://moneyguide.org.uk/family-life/trusts-basics-uk/) --- Independent UK money guidance from [Money Guide](https://moneyguide.org.uk). Information only — not regulated financial advice.