Guardianship |
 A guardianship is a relatively expensive and time consuming process for one person to manage either the estate or the person of another.
The person managed is referred to as the "ward" and has some sort of disability such as being incapacitated or being a minor. Generally a guardian is able to make all decisions for the ward.
A guardianship can be either of the estate or of the person or both.
A guardianship of the person allows someone to make personal decisions for another person, such as medical decisions and housing decisions. A guardianship of the estate allows the other person to make financial decisions.
Guardianship cases are handled by the Probate Courts.
In order to obtain a guardianship over someone, the proposed ward must be served with the court papers. In addition, the court will appoint an attorney ad litem to represent the ward. If the ward tells the attorney ad litem that he or she wants something that the attorney ad litem believes is not in his or her best interest, then the court will appoint a guardian ad litem. It can get very expensive very quickly. It is not unusual to have at least three appointed attorneys working in a case in addition to the attorneys hired by the applicant for the guardianship. If the proposed ward has a sufficient estate, then all of these costs will come from the estate of the ward.
Not only do these cases frequently involve parties fighting over whether or not there should be a guardian, but sometimes the fight is over who should be the guardian.
Managing a guardianship of the person is not overwhelming. An annual report needs to be filed with the court, but as long as the guardian faithfully executes his or her duties, there is not a lot of court interaction.
A guardianship of the estate, on the other hand, is much more difficult and is often handled by professional guardians, whereas guardian of the person is usually a relative. |
Durkin Law Offices, P.C.
817-545-9700
817-545-5071 (fax) |
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| The Durkin Law Offices, P.C. handles cases in Dallas, Tarrant, Johnson, Hood, Denton, Wise, Parker, Clay and Wichita Counties including the Cities of Decatur, Hurst, Fort Worth, Arlington, Granbury, Weatherford, Azle, Irving, Grapevine, Coppell, Colleyville, Southlake, Burleson, Euless, Haltom City, North Richland Hills, Watauga, Farmers Branch, Keller and others. Other areas reviewed on a case by case basis. |
