Choosing someone to care for your child if you cannot is a deeply personal part of estate planning. A thoughtful nomination gives the court important guidance and gives the people you trust an opportunity to prepare. It should be coordinated with a plan for the child’s financial support.
What a nomination accomplishes
Florida parents can nominate a guardian through appropriate planning documents. Florida also provides for a declaration naming a preneed guardian for a minor child, with specific signing, filing, and confirmation requirements. The nomination is important, but it is not an unconditional appointment and does not displace the rights of a qualified surviving parent.
A court must consider the applicable law and the proposed guardian’s qualifications. If no suitable nomination is available, family members or other interested persons may seek appointment. That is one reason to put your preferences in a legally effective form rather than rely on an informal family understanding.
Consider the everyday responsibilities
Think about the person’s relationship with your child, values, health, location, household, and willingness to serve. Financial circumstances matter, but the person best suited to raise your child need not also be the person best suited to manage the child’s inheritance.
Talk with the proposed guardian before making the nomination. Name an alternate in case your first choice cannot serve. If you nominate a couple, consider what should happen if they separate, divorce, or one of them dies. Review the choices as your child grows and family circumstances change.
Coordinate care with financial support
A trust can provide a way to manage an inheritance for a child under terms you choose. You can appoint a trustee to pay appropriate expenses and decide when distributions should occur. This may help avoid an outright inheritance becoming available at an age you consider too young, but the trust must be drafted and funded appropriately.
Review life-insurance and retirement-account beneficiaries along with the will and trust. Naming a minor directly can create additional administration issues. The right arrangement depends on the asset and the tax and legal rules that apply to it.
Verras Law helps parents include guardian nominations and support arrangements in a coordinated estate plan. We generally do not accept new guardianship matters except for existing clients. For new guardianship matters outside that scope, we can help arrange a referral to trusted colleagues.
Sources: Florida preneed guardian for a minor; Florida appointment of guardians.
Updated October 26, 2026.