god parent confusion ... help

[Marlacarr]

I'm a ftm and also so young(17). I was wondering how do you and what do you look for when choosing the god parents ??

[HEllwanger]

@AnnieBrooke, I am aware that there are legal documents involved and in my case those have already been completed in anticipation of my son's arrival. I never said there weren't or implied that just saying "you get my kids if i die" was sufficient  but merely stated that there were both religious and secular viewpoints on selecting godparents.

[AnnieBrooke]

HEllwanger, like eesscott said, just picking someone as godparents will not affirm that they will be allowed to raise the child if something happens to you or your husband.  The court will choose the child's guardian if you don't have a will.  Put their names in your will if they are not the logical next of kin, or they won't have a claim to raising your child.

[eesscott]

If you intend your child to be raised by the godparents if you die or are unable to do it yourself, that needs to be a legal document set up by a lawyer or law service. We did our estate planning a few weeks ago.

[suggsbaby]

ur best bet on godparent if a family friend or family memeber, my family has always picked a old or younger brother of theres to watch over the child, and so you know its someone you have kno for ever n grow up knowin. i personly picked my older cuz for my little girls godfather, and my sis (girl firend who i was raised with and each family adoted each of us) as her godmother.

[Buzzbeemommy]

I chose my son's godparents based upon how involved they are in our lives. His godmother is my best friend and in my opinion she's going to be there to answer any questions he can't ask me when he's older or anything he can't talk to me about he knows he'll be able to tell her. She's a trusted adult he can come to with anything and she of course takes him to the park or gets him a surprise toy here and there. So whatever reason you have for choosing a god parent, make sure they're trustworthy and dependable and would take the position seriously. As stated above there's many different reasons people look for godparents

[HEllwanger]

My husband and I are not religious and we have selected our child's godparent based on who would be best to raise them should anything happen to us. There are both religious and secular views on a godparent's roles.

[AnnieBrooke]

A godparent is responsible to be sure the child's religious instruction is done properly if the parents fail to see to it.  If you are from a religious family, this is an important responsibility and you need to choose someone stable and devout.  In this day and age, only some people take the role of godparent seriously.

If you mean a guardian (should something happen to you), that is a different issue by far.  That would be the person with whom your child would legally be designated to live, if you (and presumably your boyfriend or husband) would god forbid have with a fatal accident or illness.  This is a very tough decision to make, you would need to choose someone who you think would raise the child as you would like the child to be raised.  Sometimes people designate one person to handle the child's money (inherited from you, such as from insurance policies) and another to be the one who raises the child.

If you just mean godparents, choose someone within the same religious tradition as you, and who you think would take the role of being sure the child's religious instruction is tended to, seriously.