Why should I name a backup executor and a backup guardian?

Always name a second choice for every key role, because your first pick may be unable or unwilling to serve when the time comes. Your named executor could predecease you, be ill, move away, or simply decline the job; without a backup, the court appoints someone — possibly not who you'd want. The same logic applies to guardians for minor children: your first-choice couple might divorce, fall ill, or change their minds, and a named alternate keeps the decision in your hands rather than a judge's. Name backups for your power-of-attorney agent and healthcare proxy too, so a single unavailable person doesn't leave a gap. Ask each backup in advance, just as you would the primary. It costs nothing to add an alternate, and it prevents your carefully made plan from collapsing on a single point of failure. Review these names every few years as relationships change.