Who Would Raise the Kids? The Guardianship Gap, State by State

Disclaimer: General educational research only — not legal, tax or financial advice. Figures are estimates with the limits explained in the methodology. Verify with official sources and a qualified professional before making decisions.

Estate Planning Data & Research → Who Would Raise the Kids? The Guardianship Gap, State by State

If you have minor children, your will does a job nothing else can: it’s where you tell a court who should raise them if you can’t. Without that, a judge decides, often after relatives have argued it out in court.

That question hits hardest in homes with one adult in charge. Census data shows 17.96 million children live in a household with no spouse or partner present. That’s nearly 1 in 4 kids. Another 968,000 children are being raised by a grandparent with no parent in the home. That’s a guardianship that already happened, usually without anyone planning it.

We pulled Census figures for every state and D.C. and checked how each state treats a guardian named in a parent’s will.

Naming a guardian takes a page in a will, and it’s how you tell a judge who you’d choose. See whether you need a will, a living trust or both.

Key findings

• 17,958,230 children (±123,709) live with a householder who has no spouse or partner present. That’s 24.7% of kids in households (±0.2 points). About 14.4 million of them live with a single female householder and 3.5 million with a single male householder.
• D.C. (46.6% ±5.6) and Mississippi (38.1% ±1.8) have the highest shares. Both are statistically higher than any other state. Louisiana is third at 34.6%. Utah is lowest at 15.4%, statistically tied with Idaho (16.1%).
• 968,176 children (±28,845) live with a grandparent householder who is responsible for them, with no parent present. That’s 1.3% of all kids in households. About 771,000 grandparents are doing this, and 492,000 of them are 60 or older.
• Texas has the most kids being raised by a grandparent with no parent present (108,522), followed by California (55,731), Florida (52,351), Ohio (46,745) and Tennessee (43,967). As a share of kids, Mississippi (3.2%), Kentucky (3.0%) and Alabama (3.0%) are highest and statistically tied. Utah is lowest (0.5%), statistically tied with Minnesota (0.6%).
• In 50 of the 51 jurisdictions, a statute lets a parent name a guardian in a will or makes the court give that choice weight. South Carolina is the exception: we found no statute that gives a will nomination special weight for a minor, so the Family Court decides on the child’s best interest, with your will as evidence of what you wanted. How much weight the nomination gets elsewhere varies a lot. In Kansas, Mississippi, Washington and Wisconsin, the court must appoint the parent’s nominee unless that’s against the child’s best interest; in Texas, unless the person is disqualified. In North Carolina it’s a “recommendation” that gets “substantial weight.” In Georgia, the will’s guardian gets letters without a hearing if no one objects, and an objector has to prove the person unfit by clear and convincing evidence.
• A will doesn’t override a living, fit parent. Pennsylvania lets only the “sole surviving parent” appoint a testamentary guardian. Virginia says a nonparent guardian isn’t entitled to custody while either parent is living and fit. If you’re divorced or separated, the other parent usually comes first.

Why the will matters even when there’s a second parent

Most guardianship statutes kick in when both parents are gone or the surviving parent can’t serve. That sounds rare, but it isn’t only about both parents dying at once. A surviving parent may be absent, may have lost parental rights, or may not be able to care for a child. In those cases the court looks for the person the parents chose.

If there’s no will, the judge picks from whoever files. That might be grandparents on both sides, an aunt, or a family friend. The process can take months, and the child lives in limbo while it plays out.

How states treat a guardian named in a will

A note on New York: its law (Domestic Relations Law section 81) lets a surviving parent appoint a guardian by will or deed, and the appointment takes effect once the will is admitted to probate. New York’s official legislative site blocked our requests, so we checked the statute text in a secondary copy and against the state court system’s guardianship guidance.

Full state table

Children’s living arrangements are ACS 2024 1-year estimates with 90% margins of error. The guardian column is a summary; the CSV has citations and links.

“Kids raised by a grandparent” counts grandchildren under 18 living with a grandparent householder who is responsible for their basic needs, with no parent present. “Grandparents raising grandkids” counts the grandparents themselves (householder or spouse) in the same situation.

What this means for your family

• Name a guardian and a backup. Your first choice might not be able to serve when the time comes.
• Write it down the way your state accepts. Most states take a will. Several also accept a separate signed and witnessed document (for example Ohio, Alabama, New Mexico, Illinois, Colorado, California and Connecticut). A will is accepted everywhere we checked.
• Leave money in a way a guardian can use. A guardian of the person raises the child; money left outright to a minor may need a court-supervised guardian of the estate. A trust for the kids avoids that. See trust vs. will and living trust cost.
• If grandparents are already raising your kids, put it in writing. Some courts look at who has actually been caring for the child (Oregon’s priority list includes the person who handled the child’s care for the 60 days before the petition), but a will makes your wishes clear.

Related research: multigenerational households by state counts homes where grandparents, parents and children live together.

Related research: children getting Social Security survivor benefits by state counts 2,014,202 children who lost a working parent, and the chance of dying before 65 by state shows why parents of young children need a plan now.

Related research: grandparents raising grandchildren by state counts 2,013,641 grandparents responsible for grandchildren under 18, many of whom need to name a successor guardian.

Methodology

Data. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, released September 2025, pulled from the Census Data API for every state, D.C. and the U.S.

• Children by household type: table B09005. The universe is children under 18 in households, excluding householders, spouses and partners. _003 = cohabiting couple; _004/_005 = male/female householder with no spouse or partner present.
• Grandchildren raised by grandparents: table B10002. The universe is grandchildren under 18 living with a grandparent householder. _004 = grandparent householder responsible, no parent present. We report this as a share of B09005_001.
• Grandparents raising grandchildren: table B10051. The universe is grandparents living with own grandchildren. _003 = responsible, householder or spouse, no parent present; _005 = same, aged 60 and over.
• API call (key omitted): https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs1?get=NAME,B09005_001E,B09005_001M,B09005_003E,B09005_004E,B09005_005E,B10002_002E,B10002_004E,B10002_004M,B10051_002E,B10051_003E,B10051_005E&for=state:* (and for=us:1)

A correction to our planning notes. An earlier internal summary described the B10002 count (968,176) as “grandparent householders.” Census defines that table’s universe as grandchildren, so it counts children. The grandparent count comes from B10051 (771,015). Both are reported here with their correct labels.

Margins of error. 90% confidence. Shares use the Census formula for the MOE of a proportion. States are called different only when z > 1.645.

Limits. “No spouse or partner present” describes the household, not the child’s family. Many of these kids have a second living parent who lives elsewhere. The number shows how many children live day to day with one adult in charge, not how many have only one parent.

Legal research. We read each state’s minor-guardianship statute (or its probate code) for whether a parent can appoint or nominate a guardian by will, and what weight a court must give that choice. Checked October 6, 2026. Codes:

• A: official text, archived.
• B: official source read indirectly or an older official release.
• C: we couldn’t read it on an official site (New York only); the rule text says so in plain English.

Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee were read in the states’ official code releases through a public mirror (code B). Mississippi’s rule comes from its 2019 Guardianship and Conservatorship Act (Miss. Code 93-20-206). This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-year, tables B09005, B10002, B10051, B09018: https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs1 and https://data.census.gov/
• Census table universes: https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs1/groups/B10002.json and https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs1/groups/B10051.json
• State statutes: one link per state in the CSV download. Key examples:
  • Kan. Stat. 59-30,133: https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/laws/059_000_0000_chapter/059_030_0000_article/059_030_0133_section/059_030_0133_k/
  • RCW 11.130.215: https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.130.215
  • N.C. Gen. Stat. 35A-1225: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_35A/GS_35A-1225.html
  • 20 Pa.C.S. 2519: https://www.palegis.us/statutes/consolidated/view-statute?txtType=PDF&ttl=20
  • Va. Code 64.2-1701: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title64.2/chapter17/section64.2-1701/

FAQ

How do I name a guardian for my children?

In your will. Most states also accept a separate signed, witnessed document. Name a first choice and a backup, and talk to them first.

Is the guardian I name in my will guaranteed to get custody?

No. The court always decides based on the child’s best interest, and a living, fit parent usually comes first. But in many states the court must appoint your choice unless there’s a good reason not to, and in every state but South Carolina a statute makes your choice count. Even there, a judge will see it as evidence of your wishes.

What happens if I don’t name a guardian?

A judge appoints one, usually from relatives who ask. That can mean a court hearing, home studies, and sometimes a dispute between families.

Can I name different people to raise my kids and manage their money?

Yes. Many parents name one person as guardian of the child and a different person (or a trustee) to manage the money.

We’re not married. Does my partner automatically get our kids?

Only if your partner is also a legal parent. A partner who isn’t a legal parent has no automatic right. A will nomination is how you make your wishes known.

Cite this data

Published October 6, 2026 by Family Estate Guide. Data vintage: ACS 2024 1-year estimates (released September 2025). Statutes checked October 6, 2026. Editorial standards.