Guardianship is serious business! Guardianship can be used to take away a person’s rights or liberties in order to protect them and is extreme. If someone is threatening to file for Guardianship whether it’s a family member, an attorney or even a neighbor and it’s not necessary, there are a number of options available to you to fight it.
Avoid Guardianship by Creating a Comprehensive Estate Plan
The best way to avoid Guardianship and the associated fight is to create a comprehensive estate plan before Guardianship becomes an issue. If you plan ahead, there will be no room for a family feud over Guardianship or any type of court intervention. There are several components of a comprehensive estate plan that you will need –
- Comprehensive Power of Attorney – This document will allow an agent to transfer assets to your Trustee. This Trustee will account for it and distribute money for your benefit.
- Trust – A trust can safeguard your money, assets and property.
- Living Will & Health Care Surrogate/Proxy
By having all of these components of a comprehensive Estate Plan, it’s likely that a Guardianship battle will never happen. However, it’s important to have an Estate Plan in place, before it’s too late.
Contact Estate Planning & Elder Law Attorney, Mindy Felinton
Mindy Felinton is an Estate Planning & Elder Law Attorney who is focused on building and implementing estate plans that are designed to avoid Guardianship from the beginning. Mindy, who has over 30 years of experience as an Estate Planning & Elder Law Attorney, is dedicated to providing solutions for your or your family member’s needs.
To get in contact with Mindy, contact her firm by calling her office in Maryland at (301) 610-0055 or her office in Florida at (561) 290-2179.