Family & Safety

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Getting guardianship of an adult Guide

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Guardianship of an adult is when a judge chooses a person to take care of another person who is 18 years old or older who can't:

Make basic life decisions, or
Manage their own property or money.

There are 2 types of guardianship of adults:

Guardianship of the person, which covers decisions about personal care like medical treatments and social services, and
Guardianship of the estate, which covers finances and property.

A guardian can be in charge of the person, the estate, or both.

There are different reasons someone can need a guardian, including:

Mental decline as a result of aging,
Mental illness,
Developmental disability that started as a child,
Physical impairments, or
Trouble controlling behavior that puts one's self and family at risk of harm.

To be a guardian, a person must:

Be at least 18 years old,
Be a U.S. resident,
Be of sound mind, meaning logical or stable,
Not be legally disabled (this does not include blindness--blindness does not disqualify a guardian), and
Not have a felony conviction that involved harm or threat to a child, elderly person, or a person with a disability. If the person has another kind of felony conviction, the court will consider it on a case-by-case basis.

The judge needs to approve the guardian, and be sure the guardian will act in the person's best interests. Just because someone is a family member does not mean that a judge will approve them to be the guardian.

For more information on how to start a guardianship case with the court, please read Starting a case for guardianship of an adult. It can be helpful to find a lawyer to help you, especially if the adult or other people close to the adult disagree about the guardianship, or if there are complicated financial issues. A lawyer can also help you understand what you need to do if you are made the guardian, because guardians have ongoing responsibilities to provide updates and reports to the judge.