Guardianship Letter Templates and Samples

What Is a Guardianship Letter?

A Guardianship Letter is a document that can be used to transfer temporary custody from the parents of the child to another adult who is called a legal guardian. The purpose of the letter is to hand over the guardianship rights to a different party due to the circumstances of the situation.

Alternate Name:

• Temporary Caregiver Affidavit;
• Temporary Guardianship Letter.

You can download printable Guardianship Letter templates from our library below.

Guardianship Letter Types

A Letter of Guardianship can be required due to various reasons, which can include:

1. Temporary physical absence of the child's parents (vacation, work trip, etc.).
2. Temporary incapability of the original guardian to take care of the child.
3. Temporary illness or disability of parents.

Before writing the letter, parents should check the applicable state law since not all states recognize such types of letters. Additionally, if the state where the parents live does recognize the letter there can be certain requirements to its content. Some states accept a notarized Letter of Guardianship, others require those letters to be approved by a court of law.

The templates provided below represent the most popular and commonly used types of Guardianship Letters:

1. Sample Temporary Guardianship Letter for Grandparents.
2. Sample Temporary Guardianship Letter for Vacation.
3. Sample Guardianship Letter in Case of Death.

How to Write a Guardianship Letter?

A common Guardianship Letter template can contain the following:

1. Information about the parties. The document should include the identifying information of the parent (or original guardian), the child (called a "ward"), and the guardian who is receiving temporary custody. The information can include the full name, address, place of birth, date of birth, and ID number.
2. Reasons for temporary guardianship. In this part of the document, the parent can state why they have to transfer the custody of the child to the guardian. They can describe the situation, providing essential detail such as the reasons for temporary guardianship, where they will be during it, and how to reach them if necessary.
3. Guardianship details. Here the parties can designate information about the guardianship, such as when it begins and when it is terminated, if it can be extended in case of delay or not, and whether or not there are any restrictions to it. For example, the document can contain a limitation that does not allow the guardian and the child to leave the local area.
4. Guardian’s duties. The letter should indicate what duties does the guardian have, what are their rights in this arrangement, and what authority they are permitted to exercise. For example, it should be defined in the letter whether or not the guardian is authorized to make medical decisions on behalf of the child.
5. Special instructions. If there are any particular details or specific instructions that the guardian is supposed to follow, then they should be described here. It can include dietary guidelines, information about medical care, and other similar questions;
6. Transferring of guardianship. This part is supposed to provide information about whether the guardianship can be transferred from the guardian further to another party.
7. Signature. The letter must be signed by the parent or original guardian of the child. The signature will validate the intentions of the parent and designate that the document contains the true and correct information. Additionally, as was stated above, the letter should be notarized or approved by the representative with court authority.

Related Tags and Templates:

• Child Travel Consent Form;
• Nanny Contract;
• Child Care Contract.