Guardianship and Conservatorship for Minors or Incapacitated Adults
The guardianship lawyers of Dart Drouillard, P.C., advise families about their options when a person needs someone else to look after their personal care and finances. Some of our clients need advice about appointing a guardian for a child whose parents are deceased or unavailable to care for them. Others turn to us for assistance when an elderly parent is no longer capable of managing his or her own affairs.
Michigan Child Guardianship Lawyers: Call 800-797-5677 or 734-237-8715
Contact us in Livonia, Grosse Pointe Farms or Novi to learn about the best ways to arrange the care that a child or vulnerable adult in your family might need. For children, we can advise you about grandparent guardianship or other alternatives to ensure that an adult has the full range of authority to deal with medical needs, access school records, or handle other matters that only a parent would normally be able to take care of.
For incapacitated adults, our attorneys can explain just how guardianship and conservatorship could work in your situation, while guiding you through the legal procedures for appointing a guardian, performing the duties of guardianship, and modifying or terminating a guardianship if the circumstances supporting it no longer apply.
What's the Difference Between Guardianship and Conservatorship?
Guardianship is the legal response to the situation where a person's incapacity justifies the appointment of someone else, usually a close relative, to look after their personal and financial affairs. Serious long-term illness, dementia, severe developmental disabilities or similar conditions are usually the circumstances that give rise to a guardianship.
Conservatorship is a narrower grant of authority to an individual to manage the affairs of someone else. It applies only to financial matters and functions in a manner similar to the responsibility assumed by a person acting as an attorney-in-fact under a granted power.
Guardians and Conservators Are Held to a High Standard of Conduct
Guardians and conservators are both held to a fiduciary standard of conduct, which means that all decisions and actions taken in the scope of the appointment must be in the best interests of the ward, or the person to be protected. Guardians and conservators have periodic reporting and accounting obligations, and they can be removed or replaced for cause.
The Wayne County guardianship attorneys of Dart Drouillard can advise you about all aspects of guardianship or conservatorship, including the best ways to deal with family disagreements about whether a guardianship is necessary in a given situation. Contact us at any of our three locations to learn more about guardianship and conservatorship.
