Guardianship Matters: Planning for the Future During the Holidays

Guardians play an extremely important role in their wards’ lives—and, while serving as a guardian can be extremely rewarding, it also comes with various responsibilities.  Whether you are currently a guardian or you are contemplating guardianship, with the holiday season approaching, it is important to ensure that you are making informed decisions with your ward’s (or potential ward’s) best interests in mind.

With this in mind, here are several important guardianship-related matters to consider when planning for the future during the holidays:

Understanding, Respecting and Enforcing Your Role as a Guardian

As a guardian, protecting the individual who has been entrusted to your care starts with understanding your rights and responsibilities. While these rights and responsibilities can vary based on individual circumstances, generally speaking, the overarching principles that apply to the guardian-ward relationship include:

Fulfilling Your Responsibilities as a Full or Limited Guardian – Once you take the necessary steps to formally establish guardianship, you become legally obligated to fulfill your responsibilities as a full or limited guardian. If you fail to fulfill your responsibilities, the ward’s family or the court may intervene.

Enforcing Your Authority as the Ward’s Guardian – While you have a legal obligation to fulfill your responsibilities as a guardian, you also have the right to enforce your authority as your ward’s guardian if necessary. If the ward’s family members attempt to interfere with your role in your ward’s life during the holidays, you can—and should—engage legal counsel to protect both you and your ward as needed.

Seeking Advice When Necessary – Guardians can also face difficult questions and challenging legal issues outside of the context of a dispute. If you are unclear about any aspect of your rights or responsibilities as a guardian during the holiday season, you should not hesitate to seek advice from an experienced guardianship attorney.

These are just the basics of guardianship, and these summaries only scratch the surface of what guardians (and prospective guardians) need to know. As a guardian, or as someone who has concerns about another person’s health, safety or wellbeing, it is important to ensure that you are making informed decisions—not just for the holidays, but for the future as well.

Making Informed Decisions About Guardianship

Whether you are currently a guardian or you are considering guardianship as a means to help protect someone you care about, making informed decisions starts with determining whether guardianship itself is the right approach. While establishing guardianship will often be the best choice, this is not necessarily the case, and circumstances can change over time.

With this in mind, when contemplating the implications of guardianship during the holiday season, it is worth considering the other options that are available as well. Depending on the particular circumstances at hand, options it may make sense to consider—either on a temporary or long-term basis—include:

Adoption

Adoption will make sense as a long-term alternative to guardianship in some cases. While there are some similarities between serving as a guardian and serving as an adoptive parent, there are several important differences—both practical and legal—as well. An attorney who has experience advising clients regarding both guardianship and adoption will be able to help you understand whether adoption is an alternative you may want to consider.

Conservatorship

Conservatorship is a potential alternative to guardianship that involves strictly managing another person’s financial affairs (as opposed to taking on the additional responsibilities that come with guardianship). If you are considering guardianship this holiday season but are unsure about the need for (or benefits of) full guardianship, or if you believe that your guardianship may no longer be needed, conservatorship may be an option worth considering.

Less-Formal Alternatives

If guardianship isn’t necessary and neither adoption nor conservatorship is a good fit under the circumstances at hand, there are less-formal alternatives that may satisfy everyone’s goals and needs. For example, if someone you care about is generally capable of meeting his or her own basic needs but needs help managing his or her healthcare or financial affairs, it may be worth considering alternatives such as:

• Joint Account Management – Joint account management provides insight into and shared authority over an individual’s financial resources.
• Living Wills and Medical Proxies – Living wills and medical proxies provide guidance and limited decision-making authority with respect to an individual’s healthcare needs.
• Powers of Attorney – Powers of attorney can be used to provide assistance with both financial management and healthcare decision-making.

Anticipating Potential Challenges During (or After) the Holiday Season

Oftentimes, the need for guardianship (or an alternative to guardianship) can arise under challenging family circumstances. Financial challenges often play a role as well. If you are anticipating any challenges during (or after) the holiday season, it will be worth thinking about these challenges proactively and developing a plan to overcome them should the need arise.

Here too, informed decision-making is essential, and making informed decisions requires careful consideration of the specific circumstances at hand. Whether you are anticipating issues with your ward’s (or prospective ward’s) family or you are concerned about making specific health-related or financial decisions, it will be important to ensure that you are making sound decisions that take into account all relevant factors.

Of course, this is often easier said than done. Due to the importance of making sound decisions in this scenario, if you have questions, you should not hesitate to seek legal advice. An experienced attorney will be able to help you thoughtfully consider all relevant factors, make confident decisions and pursue a path forward that makes sense for everyone involved.

Speak with an Experienced Guardianship Attorney at Rendigs

If you have questions about establishing guardianship, the alternatives to guardianship, your rights and responsibilities as a guardian, or any other aspect of helping to meet someone else’s needs, we strongly encourage you to get in touch. We have extensive experience representing clients in an extremely wide range of guardianship-related matters. To speak with an experienced guardianship attorney at Rendigs in confidence, please call 513-381-9200 or tell us how we can help online today.