Event Details
There is nothing better when our community respond and show interest in specific topics. We are pleased to co-host 'Have you appointed guardians for your children?' webinar with Phoenix Wills. Phoenix Wills is one of Hong Kong's leading specialists in will writing and estate planning to individuals, families and companies based in the Asia Pacific region.
Many of us are living abroad with children and no close family around us. So it is with peace of mind knowing that everything has been done correctly with all loose ends tied up and that your wishes will be carried out after you've gone (hopefully not anytime soon).
There are three important things to consider when appointing guardians:
1) Appointing a permanent, legal guardian - who should look after the kids until they turn 18? This would usually be family members back home, but could also be friends anywhere in the world.
2) If the permanent guardian lives in a different country to you, someone will have to look after the children until the guardian can fly in and collect them. This temporary guardian would be a friend or colleague, preferably someone close to the children. This temporary guardian would usually be caring for the children for a few days until the permanent guardian is able to make their way to Hong Kong - at the moment, however, with travel restrictions and quarantine, it is a much more critical and encompassing role, as the temporary guardian could be in charge for 2-4 weeks, or even longer under certain circumstances.
3) The first two guardian nominations take effect only if both parents had passed away (or where a single parent with sole custody and no involvement from the other parent passes away). So what happens if one parent is still alive, but unable to care for the children? Appointing a 'living guardian & medical proxy' ensures that someone is legally in charge of the children and can make medical decisions for them on your behalf if, for any reason, you were unable to communicate. This could be due to an accident that had both parents incapacitated, or even just a weekend away without kids (we can all dream of the day when we can travel freely again). In the COVID-19 context, this would also cover a situation where parents had tested positive and were isolated in hospital, while the children tested negative.
Due to great interest, we decided to host two webinars the 15 Oct at 10 am and 3 pm (30 min). Åsa Wilkins CEO of Phoenix Wills, will take over the zoom stage, so join us and bring any concerns/questions you may have.
