Could someone explain to me exactly what a Godparent's responsibility is? Growing up I always thought it was 2 people that would be responsible for the child if something were to happen to the parents. My mom says it's someone who's responsible spiritually by making sure the child is brought up according the Catholic religion?
Elizabeth
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Re: Godparent question...
Your Mom is right. The person (s) who will take care of your child is a guardian, who you should legally appoint in your will.
NovemberSue
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Re: Godparent question...
I always thought the Godparents are the ones who would be responsible for teaching you about religion. Some people are saying that they are the ones who would raise your children if something happened to you but I never heard of that.
michele31
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Re: Godparent question...
A Godparent is the person who is responsible to help guide your child in their religious beliefs. Today, I think many people chose Godparents based on family politics, whose feelings will get hurt etc...and often it has little to do with religious beliefs.
A Godparent is NOT a legally binding thing. You need a Will or Living Trust or other legal document to assign guardianship over your child in the event of your death. Now, you may want the Godparents to be that for your child, but a court will not take the fact that you chose someone as a Godparent as an automatic guardanship. Also, many couples pick 2 non-married, non-related people to become their childs Godparents. You do not HAVE to pick a couple. While I would allow my best friend to raise my child, I highly doubt that I would allow Scott's brother to. So, it really depends on who you chose and why you chose them.
JennRenee
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Re: Godparent question...
We very recently chose godparents. Since we are not terribly religious, we chose our baby's godparents based on the type of role model they would provide in our child's life.
phyl
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Re: Godparent question...
choice is usually based on what type of role model will they be for your child...and I would like to add...how much will they BE THERE for your child. My Bro and I both had godparents that just kinda faded into the background...and when we were teens we probably could have benfitted from a closer relationship
In our case, since we are an interfaith couple, we chose one person that was Jewish and one person that was Catholic...and the ceremony was performed by a rabbi and a Monsigneur
