Legal Question in Family Law in California

Custody given to someone other than surviving
My husband is 18 years older than me and has medical issues. Should something happen to me, he would not be physically/emotionally able to care for our children (ages 2 & 7) and he/we would like custody be given to my sister (he would not dispute this.) I would like to see the following things happen, but don't know how to do this legally in a will or other.
1. Re: Custody
a. Custody be given to my sister asap...What would have to be done to accomplish this? And how long would it take to become official?
b. Would visitation have to be specified? My husband and sister are very close and he would visit as often as possible (she lives in OR)

2. Re: life insurance policy for me
a. Part to be given to my sister asap
b. Part to be put away for my kids when they turn 18
c. Part to be disbursed to my sister on a monthly basis.

3. Re: Child support
a. My husband would have to pay child support to my sister. right?

I would like as much of this as possible pre-
arranged (or steps outlined what they should do etc.)

Asked on 7/11/99, 2:14 am

Jed Somit Jed Somit, Attorney at Law

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0 attorneys agreed

Re: Custody given to someone other than surviving

You have a complicated set of desires which need personal attention by an

attorney. Not everything can be arranged neatly in advance.

The insurance issues can be handled through a proper designation of beneficiary. Most

likely, you will also need to create documentation for a trust to receive the money which is intended

for your kids; the trust could handle all of the life insurance issues if you desired. Question:

would husband waive any claim to life insurance paid for with community funds?

The custody issues are more complicated. A parent is entitled to custody except in extreme situations. You

can take the first steps towards a guardianship by executing a nomination of guardian joined in by your

husband, but this would not guarantee that the guardianship would be granted. If a guardianship

is granted it is correct that your husband would continue to have a support obligation, but the guardian

would have to take steps to secure an appropriate support order.

Answered on 7/13/99, 8:28 pm

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