If you are a parent who has a child with special needs, it is important to know your options when it comes to managing the medical and financial well-being of your child. Once your child turns 18, your legal relationship with her changes, because suddenly, it is presumed that your child has the ability to make decisions on her own, regardless of her abilities. At this point, one option worth exploring is becoming your child’s legal guardian, so that you can continue to make the important medical and financial decisions on behalf of your child. The following is a basic explanation of what guardianship is, when it is appropriate and how to pursue one.
Every adult is assumed to be capable of making her own decisions unless a court determines that she is incompetent. If an adult becomes incapable of making responsible decisions due to a mental disability, the court will appoint a substitute decision maker, often called a “guardian,” but in some states called a “conservator” or another term. Guardianship is a legal relationship between a competent adult (the “guardian”) and a person who because of incapacity is no longer able to take care of his or her own affairs (the “ward”).
The guardian is authorized to make legal, financial, and health care decisions for the ward. Depending on the terms of the guardianship and state practices, the guardian may or may not have to seek court approval for various decisions. In many states, a person appointed only to handle finances is called a “conservator.” Some incapacitated individuals can make responsible decisions in some areas of their lives but not others. In such cases, the court may give the guardian decision-making power over only those areas in which the incapacitated person is unable to make responsible decisions (a so-called “limited guardianship”). In other words, the guardian may exercise only those rights that have been removed from the ward and delegated to the guardian.