When your loved one is in need of help or you see someone who needs a guardian, wouldn’t you try to find a lawyer who has extensive experience and compassion for those seeking guardianship assistance?
Compassion, determination and experience. Make sure your lawyer can give you that!
Robin and Heather have extensive experience in guardianship cases. Along with a vast of knowledge and experience in working with clients, they understand this process is a sensitive area for family and friends.
You are never alone in this process and Robin and Heather listen to all of your concerns. The most loving and caring thing you can do for your loved one is making sure they are taken care of for all of their daily needs and in making important decisions.
Guardianship and Professional Guardians
In Washington, a guardianship is created based on the authority in the Revised Code of Washington. If you believe someone you know may need a guardianship, review RCW 11.88.010(1) which can be found online.
Guardianship is designed to protect and promote the well being of those whose functional limitations prevent them from making their own decisions.
A guardian is a person or agency appointed by the superior court to manage the affairs of an incapacitated person. A guardianship can be considered a legal relationship between competent adult and a person who is 18 years or older, and who has a disability which causes incapacity. A guardian assumes the rights of the incapacitated person to make decisions about many aspects of daily life.
A guardian should make decisions based on the best interest of the incapacitated person or his or her best interest. The guardian’s actions are reviewable by the court. Guardian’s can be family, friends, or a court appointed person with no ties to the incapacitated person.
Any interested person may file a petition for guardianship. This does not necessarily mean they want to be the appointed as guardian, it just means they are convinced that someone may need a guardian.
A hearing is held so the judge can determine incapacity or not and if so, appoint a guardian as they see fit.
Courts can appoint limited guardians for people who are capable of caring for themselves, or arranging for their care, in some ways but not in others. The court can also appoint a temporary guardian with very specific powers and duties written into the order in the case of an emergency. Sometimes, individuals require a guardian who has responsibility for either the person and estate, or both.
Some areas that a court may grant guardianship in are:
- Access to and release of confidential records and papers
- Decisions concerning education or counseling
Determining and monitoring place of the individual’s residence
- Giving gifts
- Healthcare
- Initiating, defending or settling lawsuits
- Lending or borrowing money
- Making a will
- Paying or collecting debts
- Possessing or managing real or personal property or income
- Traveling
Guardianship of the Person:
The individual has a significant risk of personal harm based upon a demonstrated inability to adequately provide for their own nutrition, health, housing, and/or physical safety. The guardian of the person would handle decisions about medical treatment, housing, marriage, and personal decisions.
Guardianship of the Estate:
The individual has a significant risk of personal harm based upon a demonstrated inability to adequately manage their own property, income and/or financial affairs.
The right to privacy and independence in determining how to manage one’s own affairs is paramount and should be protected.
It is always best guardianship practice to make decisions based on the incapacitated person’s values, wants, needs and stated preferences. A guardian should also try to make decisions based on decisions the person has made in the past. If a guardian is not aware of their incapacitated person’s past preferences sometimes they must make decisions based on the best interest of the client.
A guardian must always remember that they should take into consideration the incapacitated person’s value system, religious beliefs, wants, needs and desires when they are making effective decisions.
I just want to think you and your staff for all your efforts on my Dad’s
behalf these last few years. You’ve taken an impossible task and made the
best of it… T.P., Seattle, WA.
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Robin Balsam was recommended to me for a family matter. It was a very complex case involving exploitation which ended in a victorious guardianship trial. I have known attorneys from various specialties and worked with many in the past, and can say without hesitation that Robin Balsam is the most trustworthy, knowledgeable, hard working, ethical, responsive and professional attorney I have met in my professional career. Her hard work enabled me and my family to resume a happy, healthy relationship with our elder. I would recommend Robin to anyone in Washington State. She is indeed the best!
Your loved one needs your help and Robin H. Balsam P.S. is the answer! Call 253-627-7800 to schedule your consultation today.
