By Taking care of someone is one of the most noble things you can do. That’s why the number of foster care and adoption are considerably rising in the US. In 2007, it was just 52,686 and in 2021, it has risen up to 54,240.
Becoming a parent is everyone’s dream. However, it does come with various challenges. Sometimes, the legality is also challenged of the guardianship, hence turning it into a legitimate abuse.
In this blog, we will talk about the different challenges you might be facing with guardianship and the abuse that might even come with it.
What is Guardianship?
Guardianship is a legal liability where the court appoints someone to act as a guardian of a minor. As a guardian, you are legally responsible for all decision-making for your ward.
However, sometimes the need for guardianship also comes when someone is mentally or physically incompetent in making a concrete decision on their own. If the court deems them to be incompetent then the court can appoint a guardian to look after them.
The laws of guardianship however differs from state to state. For example in Florida, any adult can file a petition for guardianship, irrespective of the other party’s age. If the other party is incapacitated the court grants guardianship at ease.
Types of Guardianship
Guardianship is fairly divided into two parts: adult and property guardianship.
In this case, you’re appointed as a guardian of your ward. You’re responsible for making all of their decisions and you’re also responsible for their well-being. You can even assume guardianship of a person who is either mentally or physically incapacitated to make any sound decisions on their own.
In the property guardianship, you’re appointed as the guardian of your ward’s assets. In this case, you’ll be looking after their bank accounts, properties, stocks and bonds, and other important assets they own.
The biggest catch is, that the court can offer you guardianship for both a person and a property.
Eligibility in Guardianship
The concept of being fit and qualified as a guardian exists all over the US. There are certain criteria you need to keep in mind if you want to become a guardian. They are:
- You must be of sound mind.
- The ward and you must have a good relationship.
- You can easily understand your ward’s wishes and try to fulfill them reasonably.
- As a guardian, you have the economic stability and proper educational qualifications to look after your ward.
- You do not have an outstanding warrant or a criminal record.
Challenges in Guardianship
Becoming a guardian buries you with several responsibilities. There are several challenges you might go through while becoming a guardian or even after being a guardian.
Luckily we have jotted down some of the important challenges that you might face when you become a guardian. They are:
Legal Complexities
Obtaining a guardianship comes with several legal complexities. Navigating through them is also very critical. The court procedures and hearings always have some specific requirements that would seem even daunting at a glance.
Family Disputes
Sometimes you might face severe disagreements among your family while thinking about taking up guardianship. We would suggest that you discuss the shortcomings and benefits with them beforehand before making any decisions. This would help in avoiding conflicts and make the guardianship procedure much more seamless.
Issues of Consent
In some cases, even when the court deems it necessary to take care of an incapacitated person, the person might not even abide by the decision. In that case, it can cause a severe challenge in your guardianship claim. The court might even have to go through an elaborate procedure to demonstrate the necessity of guardianship.
Financial Expenses
With the rising inflation in the country, it’s honestly very difficult to maintain oneself and a child. The financial expenses of raising a child might be a lot and you might end up getting bankrupt.
What is Guardianship Abuse?
Being a guardian, you have to make important decisions for your ward about their finances and their personal life. But sometimes, some guardians even take advantage of this situation and abuse them for their own vested interests. This act by the guardian is called guardianship abuse.
As a guardian, exploiting your ward in different ways is counted as guardianship abuse. It not only limits itself to physical or mental abuse, but it also has its reach up to psychological abuse and even negligence.
However, abuse is also limited to a guardian. Sometimes it can be a family member who is abusing your child. We would recommend you talk to your child about it in detail.
Guardianship abuse is not only limited to a child. Someone can even abuse an adult if they are incapacitated. In Florida, a 70-year-old woman was incapacitated and stripped naked of her rights. As she was grieving the death of her beloved son due to a car accident, the court immediately slapped a guardian with uncleared criminal charges against her. At first, she was reluctant to have a guardian, but later on, she agreed.
The new guardian however refused to restore her rights and was extremely abusive to her. So then the woman took the help of social media to call out this behavior. A guardian attorney got in touch with her and she finally got back her rights.
Even though these caused her irreparable harm, the existence of guardianship abuse is pretty real.
What are the Consequences of Guardianship Abuse?
If the court discovers guardianship abuse, it comes with some severe consequences. You can even face a criminal charge or even other financial penalties. Let’s see what are the consequences that come with guardianship abuse.
Criminal Charges
In case the person is charged with stealing the ward’s money or property, then the court charges them with theft.
Abusing and assaulting an at-risk adult or a ward can even rendered to a felony charge.
You can even get accused of perjury for committing fraud or filing false records. You can even get charged with a misdemeanor if you exploit your ward or at-risk adult.
Financial Penalties
If as a guardian that was your first offense, the court can even hold you accountable and you might even have to pay financial penalties. Your penalties would include:
- Repayment of stolen money or property.
- Legal fees.
- Fines range from $500-$750,000 depending on the gravity of the crime.
- Restitution charges.
Other Costly Penalties
In this case, if you’re a licensed professional and have abused your guardianship rights, then your professional license would be immediately revoked. You can even lose your job and it might also tamper any personal relationship you had with the victim’s family.
What is a Court Improvement Program?
The Court Improvement Program or CIP is an integral part of protecting one from the shortcomings of adult guardianship. They are comprised of certain key elements that you must look out for before you take up guardianship or even get charged falsely about it:
- The courts conduct a detailed self-assessment to understand the priority of guardianship reformative areas in some states.
- The court provides adequate funding and expertise for data analysis of this assessment.
- The court even comes up with efficient funding and technical assistance programs to strengthen the overall supportive decision-making fiasco.
- It supports the courts in developing a concrete strategic plan and measures to establish their efforts properly.
- To establish a CQI or Continuous Quality Improvement procedure for monitoring the overall report progress.
- Coming up with expert training measures for state guardianship.
- Improving and fostering a seamless collaboration between courts with their other stakeholder agencies.
Why Do You Need an Attorney When You’re Facing Guardianship Abuse or Challenges?
A good family lawyer is integral if you want to get free of wrongful claims of guardianship abuse. It is important to have a good family law attorney by your side to help you traverse through the complex abuses and challenges that you might be facing in guardianship.
An attorney would help you out with comprehensive assessments of the situation and create a solid foundation for your guardianship case. A family law attorney is also well-versed in conflict resolution and finding amicable solutions to cater to your best interests.
Stating the obvious, sometimes you aren’t aware of the legal jargon that is played in front of you. Your attorney would thereby interpret those and help you out with your case at ease.
Sometimes we run out of funds while providing for guardianship. In that case, your attorney would help you out with efficient financial planning and advocate for you in court if you’re wrongfully charged with something.
Final Thoughts
And that’s a wrap! Now you know everything you need to know about guardianship abuse and the different challenges of guardianship. You even got hold of a real-life case study that has shocked you to your core.
We hope you found this article to be informative and helpful. Also, if we have missed out on anything, let us know!
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