How to Get Guardianship of an Elderly Loved One

Guardianship is the position of being legally responsible for an individual that is unable to manage their own assets and/or healthcare. As a guardian, the person that you have the legal authority to care for is called your ward. Guardianship may be a viable option if your loved one is incapacitated due to advanced age or disability and they neglected to appoint a power of attorney for their finances or a healthcare surrogate for their medical and health matters. If you are petitioning for guardianship, you must go to court and have your loved one declared incapacitated. Once this occurs, the court may transfer the responsibility of managing your loved ones assets and healthcare to you. Guardians have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their wards, and there are Guardianship monitoring programs in place to ensure that Guardians fulfill their obligations. Depending on the extent of a ward’s incapacity, a guardian’s duties may include: determining where the individual will reside, paying bills, giving consent for medical treatments, making end-of-life choices, managing finances and handling matters related to said individual’s tangible personal property.

If you have any further inquiries regarding this matter, please contact our office at: 941-906-1231 and schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys.