by KYW’s Michelle Durham
There are still question marks surrounding who will wind up with custody of Michael Jackson's children -- even though he had a will. But what happens to kids when a parent dies without such a document?
Weber Gallagher Family Law Attorney Lynne Gold Bickin says the custody issue gets complicated:
"[A child] goes to the other parent assuming that only one parent dies. If both parents die in a plane crash, there's something in the will that they go to one parent or another, maybe siblings. So it's important to have a will."
Otherwise Gold Bickin says it makes it more difficult for the court to determine what is in the best interest of the child:
"If there's no will, it sets up a potential fight assuming there is more than one set of relatives that wants to take the children. And wouldn't they be lucky because what if there was no one who could take them?"
She advises any parent without a will to have one drafted immediately.
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