We just asked my brother-in-law and his wife to do it. Their ideals/beliefs etc line up with ours. I would have asked my in-laws but my husband felt this was best. I do too now. However, we have not made up a will. So we REALLY need to get that going.

At first we started out with parents.  But now that they have gotten older, we have moved to siblings.  Deciding which siblings is tricky.  

We recently made our wills before leaving the country for a vacation without our daughter. I'm an attorney but didn't bother to write my own will until then- and most of my attorney friends didn't have one either. It is really quite simple to do unless you have complicated estates, so everyone should make it a priority to do.

As for the question of who to take the kids, it was a hard decision but we went with my husband's brother and SIL since they have kids of their own. Remember though that the courts don't have to abide by your wishes regarding who to leave your children to- they will take your wishes into consideration but will give custody to the party they think will best provide for the children. Something to think about.

When our first child was born, we sat down and discussed who would be the best option for guardianship of our children if we were to die or become unable to care for them.  We decided on my cousin and his wife.  We didn't want to make it about which family was "better", but rather choose a family that was the same age as our family, with solid family support on both sides, and that hold to the same Christian values as our family. 

As far as our wills, we have them written up and saved on our computer, but haven't ever gotten around to getting them signed, witnessed, and notarized.  We talk about it every so often, but haven't done it yet.

Since I'd been in the working world for many years before having children, I had given a fair amount of thought to what should happen to my money but it wasn't until I went skydiving for the first time that I realized I needed a solid plan for my child's guardianship.  It was a hard decision for sure since I live far away from most of my immediate family and assigning guardianship to them would mean moving my son out the state he'd been living in all his life.  It became clear my siblings were my first choices.  Once I got over that hurdle, it really came down to who's parenting style and beliefs were most like my own. 

My son is now 13 and I'm glad that, should something happen to me, he can at least have a voice in the matter and be heard.

This has been an awfully hard decision for my husband and I.  Before our two children were born, we decided it would be my husband's parents.  My own mother had passed away, and my relationship with my father was strained.  But we quickly learned after our kids were borned that my in-laws' parenting styles were completely different than ours.  Plus, my M-I-L's health has gone downhill, and it would be difficult for them to raise small children all over again.  So then we decided upon my aunt and uncle (my mom's sister and B-I-L).  Their health, especially my aunt's, has also declined, although they have expressed their interest and desire to raise our children if the need arose.  I have two younger brothers, but one is single, and the other is married with 4 kids, and his lifestyle and beliefs is completely opposite ours.  My husband also has two siblings, but the same thing as with my siblings--one is single, the other is married with 2 kids and her lifestyle and beliefs is completely opposite ours.

We have considered close friends of ours, aunts & uncles on my husband's side, and even our cousins.  As of today, unfortunately, we still have not settled on anyone.  It's a toss-up between friends of ours and my cousin who will be getting married the end of this month.  Needless to say our will is incomplete, but it is constantly on our mind, and we have had many discussions with my aunt and my in-law's so they are aware of the difficulty of this decision, and they are aware that they are not the "chosen ones".

There's another side to this discussion - what will you say if you are asked to be guardians of someone else's children?  We found ourselves in this spot not quite a year ago, and, although I knew right away that we should agree to guardianship if it needed to happen, it took a lot of prayer time for me to feel fully ready to accept responsibility for children younger than my own.  We did ask the parent involved to agree to our plan to homeschool the children if we had to assume guardianship, and he agreed.

It's actually pretty difficult to think about expanding your family quite suddenly.  Where will you put additional children?  Will there be money to pay for college?  Can you add them to your health insurance plan without adopting them?  What if you live in another state (tip: everything gets way harder).

The Hiding Place is one of my favorite books. It's so full of wisdom. When Corrie ten Boom speaks about opening her home (the Beje) to foster children, disabled people, persecuted Jews and NSBers, it makes me think that my worries about caring for my young nieces are in God's hands...and that is very comforting. We have opened our hearts to this possibilty, and we trust in the Good Lord o provide Corrie's "train ticket" - the faith that we'll have what we need in God's time - if we do need to step up and care for these lovely girls.

When I first read the thread title, I said, "If something happens to me, [with dh in charge] my children will get to eat pizza every night."

I confess. We don't have a will. It's not that we've totally neglected it. We've gone down this road several times. But each time we realize that we have no one to entrust our children to.

We are better prepared for a one-parent scenario than a 0-parent scenario.

Oh...Nancy, I forgot to add in my post...I was asked to be a guardian. I found that much easier to accept than to try to find guardians for my kids. Of course, it was to be guardian for my own daughter...her adoptive parents put me down as #3 in the succession of guardians. At the time, she was not even a year old, so my situation was not ideal for the #1 slot, however, as time has gone on, I've been moved up to #1. She's now 17, so it would completely up to her at this point.

I am a bad neglectful parent as my husband and I do not have a will.  There really isn't anyone I trust with my children.  My mom has cancer so that would be difficult.  My mother in law is just too liberal...just not right...but not terrible..so she may rank up there.  My father in law is a drunk.  My brother is unmarried and at 38 still thinks he may become a rock star if he plays in enough smokey bars.  I do have friends...but sometimes when you know their inner workings and secret family stuff that scares you too.  LOL.  My husband and I have made a decision...but not a solid one.  The most important thing to me is how they will be brought up spiritually.