Professional Guardians are those individuals who are appointed by a Probate Court to protect and manage the lives of individuals who are found to be legally incompetent as defined by the law. Professional Guardians tend to be the last resort for appointment as family members are typically better informed and able to care for their loved ones.
Our Guardians, offer our wards and community over 25 years each of education and experience working in Human Service settings. These settings include;
All of our Guardians have educational credentials in the human services.
It is frequently assumed that the appointment of a guardian for an adult is the same as a guardian for child. This is not the case. Whereas the guardian of a child is a caretaker the guardian of an adult is a care monitor, advocate and manager of services.
Guardians for children tend to be a surrogate parent and responsible for all areas of a child's life and well being.
Adult guardians have varying authority based on the individual wards needs and the specific authority granted by the court. A Probate Court judge may grant full guardianship or they may grant a partial guardian with clearly specified authority. A judge may grant authority of medical needs, financial needs, legal needs, housing decisions, or any combination of these.
Typically, the role of professional guardians are to manage a persons life. Guardians must assure that the ward is receiving and maintaining any and all benefits a ward may be entitled to. This entails applying for financial and medical benefits.as well as maintaining accountability to the court, state and federal entities. The guardian is to assure that the ward is living in a safe environment and that medical and therapeutic services are provided in a manner that provides a quality of life.
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A Conservator is similar to a guardian in that it is a role that is appointed by the Probate Court to protect the finances and property of an individual who is found legally incapacitated, due to medical or mental health reasons, and unable to manage their own finances.
Conservators are appointed when there is property or funds that can be squandered or exploited if not managed properly.
It is the role of the Conservator to secure and protect all of the assets and property of the ward. These assets can include, property, houses, retirement plans, annuities, bank accounts and/or stocks. It is in the process of securing these assets
that a conservator will find instances of financial abuse or mis-dealings.
Sometimes when a guardian assigned there is much to do and little information available - Effective 2018 we are requiring a pre-acceptance referral. This provides us with needed information and provides us a picture of what a person needs and if we have capacity at the time to meet the needs. You can find the referral form on the resource page.