OC Attorney Announces 3 Easy Ways to Protect Your Kids During School Hours

Found on www.prlog.org/ and brought to you by Lawyer Salinas

“Do you think a school emergency card is enough to protect your kids if something happens to you during school hours?” asks Orange County estate planning attorney Darlynn Morgan to parents attending her popular Kids Protection Planning Workshop.

Sep 28, 2011 - The majority of the room raise their hand yes.  A few parents are undecided.  Yet from a legal standpoint, all of them are wrong.

“Contrary to popular belief, a school emergency card will not protect your children from spending time in the hands of social services if something tragic happens to you,” says Darlynn Morgan.  “The emergency card only gives named contacts permission to pick your kid up if they are sick, not take short-term custody of them if one or both parents are killed or incapacitated in an accident,” she adds.

For this reason, experts such as Morgan recommend parents create an emergency plan so there is no confusion or legal headaches should tragedy strike.   According to Morgan, this plan can be created in 3 easy steps, along with naming guardians for your children, which she details in her workshop.

1.       Legally name short-term guardians for your kids.  This should ultimately be someone who lives close by and one who will comfort your children in an emergency.

2.       Make sure your short-term guardians match those named on the school emergency card.  Without this information your children could be placed temporarily in the custody of social services until the surviving parent or legal guardian can arrive.

3.       Make sure the babysitter knows what to do if you don’t return home.  In most cases, a babysitter will panic and turn to the police for help, again opening the door for social services to temporarily take custody of your kids until a long-term care provider can arrive.

“Creating an emergency plan is so easy--- and something that will greatly pay off if a parent is injured or killed during school hours,” Morgan says. “The first few hours after an emergency are the most painful for a child, so it’s important for parents to make sure their kids spend that time with people they love and trust, rather than in the arms of the state,” she adds.

For more information on Newport Beach attorney Darlynn Morgan, please visit her press page at http://www.morganlawgroup.com/in-the-press or call (949) 260-1400.

ABOUT DARLYNN MORGAN – California Will and Trust Attorney
Darlynn Morgan is a California Will and Trust attorney, and speaker. Darlynn makes it easy for your family to talk about and plan for tough subjects like money, death and taxes. Visit www.MorganLawGroup.com for more estate planning resources on how to make sure your family wouldn’t have a mess on their hands if the “unthinkable”

happens to you.