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Guardianship

Today's Q&A on ElderCareMatters.com is about Applying for a Guardianship or Conservatorship

Question:  "I need information about the process to apply for a Guardianship or a Conservatorship. Can you please provide this information?"

Answer:  To initiate a guardianship or conservatorship, an interested party must file a petition to the court. The petition will state the petitioner's relationship to the prospective ward. The petition also will state facts that show that the proposed ward is incapacitated, and the need for a guardian. The petition should detail the ward's property and assets. The judge will examine the petition and hold a hearing that the proposed ward must attend. After the hearing, the judge will decide if the proposed ward needs a guardian, conservator or both. Wards have the right to appeal a guardianship or conservatorship determination.

Once appointed, a guardian or conservator must be discharged by the judge to end the guardianship or conservatorship. Reasons for discharge include the death of the ward or conservatee, the ward's return to capacity or the guardian or conservator's inability to fulfill his or her duties.

Stephen O. Allaire, Esq.
Partner in the Law Firm of
Ruggiero, Ziogas & Allaire
Bristol, CT  06010
860-584-2384
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, Connecticut chapter

Question of the Day on ElderCareMatters.com: "I am an Elder Care Professional with 15 years experience in helping families with their elder care matters. Should I be listed on ElderCareMatters.com?"

Answer:  If you are a professional who helps families plan for or deal with ANY of their elder care matters, then you owe it to yourself to be listed on America's #1 online source for "Elder Care Experts"….

ElderCareMatters.com

ElderCareMatters.com is where you will find more than 2,000 competent, caring elder care experts located across America, including:

  • Elder Law Attorneys
  • Estate Planning Advisors
  • Financial Planners
  • Investment Advisors
  • Geriatric Care Managers
  • Insurance Professionals
  • Life Care Planners
  • Professional Organizers
  • Reverse Mortgage Lenders
  • Senior Move Managers
  • Senior Real Estate Professionals
  •  Tax Advisors
  • Aging in Place Professionals
  • Daily Money Managers
  • And other elder care experts with long and successful careers working with seniors and their families

This is also where you will find some of America's best:

  • Assisted Living Communities
  • Alzheimer's / Memory Care Communities
  • Continuing Care Retirement Communities
  • Home Care Agencies

Together, we provide families across America with:

  • Unparalleled professional expertise
  • Up-to-date elder care information & answers to your elder care questions
  • Competent, caring assistance with a wide range of elder care services

So if you are a competent, caring elder care professional who helps families with ANY of their elder care matters, then request today an Application for Membership in the national ElderCare Matters Alliance and get listed on ElderCareMatters.com - America's #1 source for "Elder Care Experts" plus information and answers about a wide range of elder care matters.

Phillip G. Sanders, MBA, MSHA, CPA
Founder & CEO
ElderCare Matters, LLC
ElderCareMatters.com

 

 

 

Question of the Day on ElderCareMatters.com: “For some reason, my aging parents are stonewalled about signing a healthcare power of attorney. They seem to think that one of them will always be available to take care of the other. As they age, it is becoming more and more apparent that this issue needs to be discussed, but they refuse any attempt on any family member's part to do this. I believe they view it as a means for someone to take control, thus losing their independence. What would you suggest?”

Answer:  In Massachusetts and probably other states, if  married couples do not have  a health care proxy (HCP) in place and one of them needs hospital care the other will have no rights with respect to his or her spouse's health care needs.
 
In circumstances where the hospitalized spouse loses competency to decide an emergency, guardianship will be required. The cost will then become large because court action will be required. If these people are hesitant they can name each other as health care agent followed by a trusted child as an alternate. Also they should think about a durable financial power of attorney  because a health care proxy only addresses health issues, and if one of them becomes incompetent the other can take over with the financials. Without that document financial institutions would require a Conservatorship– again an expensive proposition. Every person needs to have these 2 documents in place. The fiscal and emotional costs to the family would be far greater than the actual legal costs to retain an attorney to draft them.

Susana Lannik, Attorney at Law
Law Office of Susana Lannik, LLC
Newton, Massachusetts  02458
617-658-2980
www.LannikLaw.com
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, Massachusetts chapter

Question of the Day on ElderCareMatters.com: "I noticed this morning that ElderCareMatters.com now has a total of 72 different elder care / senior care services that are included on this wonderful website. Can you tell me how these services are selected, and are there a maximum # of services that will be included on ElderCareMatters.com?"

Answer:  ElderCareMatters.com is an elder care resource to help families across America plan for and deal with their elder care matters.  With this goal in mind, we will continue to add more elder care-related services to ElderCareMatters.com in order to make this online elder care resource invaluable for families looking for help in planning for and/or dealing with their elder care matters.

Below are the 72 different elder care services currently listed on ElderCareMatters.com (with more services soon to be added): 

  1. Adult Day Care
  2. Advance Medical Directives
  3. Aging in Place Services
  4. Alzheimer's / Memory Care Communities
  5. Annuities
  6. Arbitration
  7. Asset Protection Planning
  8. Assisted Living Communities
  9. Assisted Living Referral Services
  10. Bankruptcy
  11. Caregiving Education
  12. Consumer Law
  13. Continuing Care Retirement Communities
  14. Crisis Intervention
  15. Daily Money Management / Bill Paying
  16. Dementia Care
  17. Disability Income Insurance
  18. Elder Abuse Litigation Services
  19. Elder Law
  20. ElderCare Planning / Long-Term Care Planning
  21. Estate Administration
  22. Estate Liquidation
  23. Estate Planning
  24. Financial Planning
  25. Funeral Services
  26. Geriatric Care Management
  27. Guardianship / Conservatorship
  28. Health Insurance
  29. Hoarding Clean Up and Coaching Services
  30. Home Care
  31. Home Downsizing Services
  32. Home Health Care
  33. Home Modifications
  34. Hospice Care
  35. Independent Living Communities
  36. Investment Services
  37. Life Care Planning
  38. Life Insurance
  39. Litigation
  40. Long-Term Care Insurance
  41. Medicaid / Disability Planning
  42. Medical / Healthcare
  43. Medical Alert Systems
  44. Medical Claims Processing
  45. Medical Equipment & Supplies
  46. Medicare Consulting
  47. Medicare Supplemental Insurance
  48. Medication Management Services
  49. Moving / Relocation Services
  50. Personal Finance / Accounting / Tax Preparation
  51. Powers of Attorney
  52. Probate
  53. Professional Organizing
  54. Public / Non-Profit Resources
  55. Real Estate Services
  56. Rehabilitation Services
  57. Residential Psychiatric Care
  58. Respite Care
  59. Retirement Planning
  60. Reverse Mortgages
  61. Securities Arbitration & Litigation Services
  62. Senior Move Management
  63. Senior Move Planning
  64. Social Security Disability Services
  65. Special Needs Planning
  66. Tax Law
  67. Tax Planning
  68. Transportation Services
  69. Trustee / Fiduciary Services
  70. Trusts
  71. VA Benefits
  72. Wills

If you need help with your family's elder care matters, you can count on ElderCareMatters.com to provide you with the experts, information & answers you need to plan for and deal with your elder care matters.

Phillip G. Sanders, MBA, MSHA, CPA
Founder & CEO of ElderCareMatters.com
1-877-379-4500