Rielle Hunter Won't Be a Stepmom

Rielle Hunter won't be a stepmom: Elizabeth Edwards 'grooming' older daughter to raise other kids

Bounds/AP; Corkery/News

Friends say Elizabeth Edwards (r.), with kids Cate, Emma and Jack, doesn't want Rielle Hunter (l.) anywhere near her children should she pass away.

Insiders tell us that John Edwards' estranged wife is investigating how - should she lose her battle with cancer - she can keep daughter Emma, 12, and son Jack, 10, away from Rielle Hunter, the woman who broke up her marriage.Elizabeth Edwards is said to be determined not to let her husband's mistress become her children's stepmom.

"She doesn't want Rielle anywhere near them," says a source.

Friends say Elizabeth is exploring the option of having her 28-year-old daughter, Cate, raise them.

"She's a smart and competent woman," says a source, noting that, having graduated from Harvard Law School, Cate has been clerking in federal court in Alexandria, Va. She owns a Georgetown row house and has been in a longterm relationship with a resident at Georgetown University Hospital.

Hard as it is to face the worst-case scenario, Elizabeth "has been grooming Cate to take over," says a source.

Another source says Elizabeth has been forced to confront the question of guardianship because her health has "taken a turn for the worse lately."

Her sister, Nancy Anania Sims, disputes that she's suffered a setback.

"She is in treatment," Sims tells us. "But she's doing well. She's from strong Italian stock. She has more energy than I do."

Sims also doesn't believe John Edwards will marry Hunter, with whom he has a 2-year-old daughter, Quinn. even though he's now legally separated from Elizabeth.

Hunter has said that she and Edwards used to dream about what wedding they'd have after Elizabeth was gone. But, at this point, Sims says, "I find it impossible to believe [they'll marry]. That would surprise me."

Sims doesn't "think" Elizabeth has discussed Cate becoming her siblings' guardian. But she corroborated that Elizabeth may be hoping to deprive her husband of custody.

"There are a lot of family members who are willing and able [to look after Jack and Emma]," says Sims, who might be one of them. "They'll be well taken care of."

John Edwards' lawyer, Wade Smith, didn't immediately return a phone call. But some attorneys who've been watching the Edwards drama believe that Elizabeth stands little chance of choosing Jack and Emma's guardian.

"That's ridiculous," says New York attorney Peter Bronstein, whose star clients have included Guy Ritchie and Julian Schnabel. "The father would have the paramount right to succeed to the custody of his natural children.

"It would be very sad if Elizabeth Edwards isn't around to see her children to adulthood. But she can't rule from the grave and dictate whether they see their father and his girlfriend."

The exception would be if the father was proven to be unfit - say, for instance, if Edwards were to go to jail. (A grand jury in North Carolina has been considering whether he illegally used campaign funds to cover up his affair with Hunter.)

"If a father was shown to be guilty of moral turpitude, he might lose custody," Bronstein allows.

Would that include adultery?

"No," says Bronstein. "If that were true, half the parents in America would lose their children."

With Leah Sydney