Without the right documents, that decision falls to an Arizona judge through a court process scheduled three to fourteen days after you’re gone. The Guardian Protection Plan replaces the court with the people you chose — with authority the same day.
Most parents have the conversation. Few document it in writing. Here is the sequence Arizona law follows when the conversation was never written down.
Police call. Or the news arrives while the children are at school. Whoever is with the children at that moment is not their legal guardian. Schools, hospitals, and police default to state intervention when no authority is documented.
Arizona DCS assumes temporary custody when no documented legal guardian is immediately available. The children spend that night in state placement — an emergency shelter, a foster home, or a kinship placement DCS decides on.
Usually three to fourteen days later. Family members can petition for permanent guardianship: your sister, your mother-in-law, your spouse’s brother, an estranged grandparent. Any of them have standing to file.
Based on what is said in court that day, by whichever family members showed up. The judge does their best with the information given. Your preferences are not part of the file because they were never written down.
Most parents assume a will is enough. A will alone leaves a multi-day window before any court recognizes it. The Guardian Protection Plan adds two more layers to close that window.
Arizona’s Pre-Need Guardian statute lets you name a person with immediate legal authority over your children the moment both parents become incapacitated or die.
Not a will-based nomination — that takes weeks. This document gives your chosen person the standing to pick the children up the same day, with full legal authority, before any court process.
A formal will that permanently nominates your chosen guardian for court recognition. Each parent gets their own pour-over will containing the legal nomination.
When the family eventually goes to court for permanent guardianship, the judge has your written nomination in front of them. Your choice arrives at the courthouse before any other petitioner does.
The money is handled separately from the guardian. A revocable living trust with Children’s Trust sub-provisions holds the assets and pays them out on your schedule.
Typical: one-third at 21, one-third at 25, one-third at 30, with full discretion for the trustee to use funds for education, health, and care before then. You choose the ages.
Not a stack of templates. Documents drafted to Arizona law, the pragmatic tools that go alongside them, and the insurance work that ties everything together.
The trust and supporting documents that hold the plan together.
The specific documents that protect the children — not just the assets.
Active, not passive. Most parents have a coverage gap.
Children grow. Circumstances change. The plan needs to keep up.
The person who raises your children and the person who manages the money for your children should usually be different people. This is the single sentence most parents have not heard.
Daily life. School. Food. Doctors. Bedtime stories. The values you would have wanted them to be raised with. This is the person who shows up for the soccer game, signs the report card, and decides whether they go to camp this summer.
Investment decisions. Distribution requests. Tax filings. Coordination with the trust’s rules and your written instructions. This is the person who handles the inheritance correctly, so the guardian can focus on raising the children.
Four ways parents address this. Here is how they compare on price and on what they actually deliver.
The home is typically the family’s largest asset. It is also where the children live. Putting it in the trust matters more for parents than for any other client type.
The Homeowner Probate Shield handles the home. The Guardian Protection Plan handles the children. Together, with the Multi-Avatar Discount, both are covered.
The decision is yours.
Documentation makes it real.
Most parents begin with the consultation. Some watch the masterclass first. Either path leads to the same place.
Thirty minutes. We discuss your family, your children, your guardian choices, and whether the Guardian Protection Plan is the right fit. No pressure, no closing.
Schedule a callA 45-minute foundation on Arizona estate planning, with a dedicated section on parents and minor children. Watch on your own time, then decide whether to schedule.
Register & watch