Non-traditional families need planning to protect children’s rights

More children are currently being raised in nontraditional families than ever before. The term non-traditional family refers to any non-married couple raising children as a family including lesbian or gay parents. Although children in non-traditional families may have two parental figures, sometimes the law only recognizes one as having parental rights. If so, the child may have:

·        No right to inherit or receive Social Security benefits from the non-recognized parent;

·        No right to be added to the health insurance benefits of that parent and no right to have the non-recognized parent consent to emergency medical treatment or visit the child in hospital.

Estate planning questions for non-traditional families with children include:

·        How to provide for children if only one parent is legally recognized;

·        How to protect the parenting rights of the non-recognized parent;

·        How to name the surviving partner as the children’s guardian if there is no adoption;

·        How to provide for the children if the state does not recognize them as a family.

Lawyers schooled in the rights of parents and children of traditional nuclear families need also to be sensitive to the rights of couples and children living in non-traditional families.