Services Provided by the firm related to Guardianships

1. Guardianship Services

At times a loved one is no longer able to manager their affairs or manage their own daily lives.  The law provides a method to assist these loved ones by appointing another person to care for the loved one’s estate and/or to care for the loved one themselves.  The person is considered the guardian over the person and/or their estate and the guardian has the legal authority to make all decisions authorized by the court.

By statute, minors have natural guardians.  The natural guardians, as you might expect, are the parents of the minor.

There are two distinct types of Guardianships.  When the court appoints a guardian, it carefully considers the application to determine whether to appoint either one or both types of a guardainships.  The court is to design the guardianship to encourage the development or maintenance of maximum self-reliance and independence in the incapacitated person.

Guardian of the Estate

A person appointed as guardian of the estate is responsible for to manage the assets of the ward.  The ward is the person who guardian is caring for.
Guardian of the Person

When a person is appointed as a guardian of the person, the guardian has the legal authority to make decisions for the ward.

The court can appoint the same person to serve as the guardian over the estate and over the person or the court may appoint one person to be the guardian of the estate and a different person to be a guardian over the person.  Further, the court may appoint a guardian over the estate and not appoint anyone as guardian of the person.

Our firm can assist you in making the decision related to guardianships.  There are many considerations to take into account.