When your child with special needs turns 18, he or she legally becomes an adult who can make his or her binding decisions with resulting consequences. When legal adulthood approaches, parents worry that their child can’t make safe or sound decisions and/or is susceptible to fraud or undue influence. To protect and support their child, parents frequently pursue the action of becoming their child’s official legal guardian. How does a parent know whether a Guardianship or Powers of Attorney are appropriate for their child?
What are Powers of Attorney?
Powers of Attorney are legal documents used to give one individual the power to act on behalf of another individual. A Power of Attorney allows parents to make legal decisions for their adult child, including financial, educational, and medical decisions. However, Powers of Attorney do not terminate a person’s rights; in fact, a person under the Power of Attorney is still free to make his or her own decisions. For example, if your child signs a contract, it is binding under a Power of Attorney. If more protection is needed, a Guardianship may be more appropriate.
What is Guardianship?
Guardianship is a legal process by which a person is granted the responsibility and decision-making power for an adult who lacks capacity to make his or her own decisions. There are two basic types of guardianships, guardianship of the person and guardianship of the estate. A guardianship of the person involves the ongoing personal, healthcare, and day-to-day decision making for a person. A guardianship of the estate involves the care and management of a person’s finances and property.
A Guardianship does not have to be a one-size-fits- all approach. Specifically, a Guardianship can encompass all aspects of decision-making for a person or can be strictly limited to certain decisions. In a plenary guardianship, the guardian is given full decision-making authority on behalf of the person in all areas, including making all financial, educational, and medical decisions.
Conversely, in a limited guardianship, the guardian is given the power to make only those decisions which the court specifies. With a limited guardianship, a court does not make a general finding that the person lacks all decision-making capacity, but rather determines the limits of that person’s capacity based upon the specific facts and circumstances. For example, your child may be able to make his or her own medical decisions, but may need a limited guardian to have decision-making authority over certain financial matters.
How do I know if a Guardianship or Powers of Attorney is right for my child?
- Does my child have the intellectual capacity to read and understand the content of a Power of Attorney? If not, a guardianship may be necessary.
- Can my child manage his or her own money with relative accuracy?
- Is my child susceptible to fraud or undue influence?
- Can my child carry out treatment plans, attend medical appointments, therapy appointments, and administer medications?
- Does my child understand the choices that they have and the consequences of each choice?
- What type of support does my child need on a day-to-day basis?
- Can my child discern whether others have his or her best interests at heart?
- Is my child able to understand emergency situations?
- Can my child count change accurately?
- Does my child make impulsive choices that have undesirable consequences?
Contact Us Today
Clancy & Associates, Ltd., is the only full-service special needs planning law firm in Illinois. Our attorneys are dedicated to supporting individuals with special needs and their families. We, too, are parents and siblings of loved ones who have a disability and know how daunting and exhausting it is to go from firm-to-firm and provider-to-provider to find solutions and help. Each child and family’s needs are very different — and we provide tailored, common sense ideas and strategies that reflects your goals, resources, and hopes for your family’s future security.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation to learn more about our services and talk about your planning needs.
