Guardianships & Conservatorships
When a person becomes incapacitated and is unable to make decisions on his or her behalf and has failed to authorize an agent under a financial or medical power of attorney, the Court may be asked to appoint a person under a guardianship or conservatorship to manage the person’s personal or financial matters. Oftentimes, a spouse, adult child, or sibling may seek to be appointed by the Court. There are also private fiduciaries that can be hired and appointed to serve in this role when family members are unable to do so.
A GUARDIANSHIP is a court appointment of a person to serve as Guardian on behalf of another person who is called the Ward. The Guardian is authorized to make decisions about the ward’s wellbeing and personal care. This can include where the ward will live, and decisions related to care, medical treatment and other decisions. If a person has executed a medical power of attorney, it may include a nomination of a person the ward would seek to have serve as guardian should the need arise.
A CONSERVATORSHIP is a court appointment for a person to serve as Conservator for a person, called the Protected Person’s, behalf when that person is incapacitated, missing, detained or unable to return to the United States and when the protected person is unable to manage his or her property or business affairs because of the inability to receive and evaluate information or to make and communicate decisions. The Conservator is authorized to make decisions about the protected person’s estate and financial affairs.
Guardianships and conservatorships can usually be avoided if a person has created a good estate plan that contains a durable financial power of attorney, and a medical power of attorney. As people are living longer, there is a greater chance that a person may become incapacitated. Planning for incapacity is just as important as planning for how you would like your estate handled after your death. It is important to designate who you want making decisions on your behalf and the care you wish to receive. An attorney can explain the different options and choices that you need to make and give advice about the impact of different decisions you may make. An attorney should not be a person that sells documents but rather a person that helps you to understand and make the right choices in matters important to you and your family. But, if someone close to you has failed to plan or designate someone to act on his or her behalf, at Werth Law LLC we can guide and direct you through the guardianship or conservatorship proceedings. Even after appointment, we can continue to advise you in your new role and assist with filing the required reports with the court each year.