Legal guardians
| Type | Youth organization |
|---|---|
| Legal status | Non-profit organization |
| Website | [1] |
A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Guardians are typically used in three situations: guardianship for an incapacitated senior (due to old age or infirmity), guardianship for a minor, and guardianship for developmentally disabled adults.
A guardianship for an incapacitated senior will typically arise where someone determines that a senior has become unable to care for their own person or property. Usually, there is a belief that the senior is being financially exploited or about to be exploited. Other times, the person will become unable to care for him or herself and is not able to properly engage in the activities of daily living without assistance. There will typically be a precipitating incident that causes a professional, family member, health care worker or clergyman to initiate guardianship proceedings.
In most states, the process will start with a determination whether the alleged incapacitated person is actually incapacitated. There will often be an evidentiary hearing. Only if a finding of incapacity is made will the next step take place: whether a guardian is necessary and, if so, who should the guardian be. The determination of whether a guardianship is necessary may consider a number of factors, including whether there is a lesser restrictive alternative, such as the use of an already existing power of attorney and health care proxy. In some cases, a guardianship dispute can become quite contentious, and can result in litigation between a parent and adult children or between different siblings against each other in what is essentially a pre-probate dispute over a parent's wealth. Stopping the guardianship is often pursued in such cases as well.
Most countries and states have laws that provide that the parents of a minor child are the legal guardians of that child, and that the parents can designate who shall become the child's legal guardian in the event of death, subject to the approval of the court.
If a parent or legal guardian appoints another person to temporarily be responsible for the child, the person acting in that capacity is called the guardian, or natural guardian of that child.
Legal guardians may be appointed in guardianship cases for adults (see also conservatorship). For example, parents may start a guardianship action to become the guardians of a developmentally-disabled child when the child reaches the age of majority.
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