Has a loved one been deemed “incapacitated” by a Florida guardianship committee? Miami guardianship case shows that courts may appoint a public guardian if family and friends are not immediately available.

In Florida, a Guardianship is used to protect the health, welfare, and propertyof a person who has become mentally incapacitated. The typical case for guardianship in Florida is the unfortunate but common instance of an elderly person with dementia. In guardianship, Florida courts will actually removed some of the rights of the incapacitated person (called a “ward“) and appoint a guardian to act on the ward’s behalf.  Because this process grants so much power to the guardian, while leaving the ward so vulnerable to unscrupulous acts, it is usually best toappoint a loved one or close friend as a guardian to ensure the guardian acts in the ward’s best interest. 

But what happens when someone like that is not available?

• In the recent case of Silveira v. Guardianship of Ana Maria Quiroga, Ana Maria Quiroga was determined by the Florida court to be incapacitated.
• The proceedings took place in April of 2014.
• Her sister, Ursula Silveira, was listed as a possible choice for guardianship.
• Ursula accepted the nomination and seemed happy to be the one to take care of her sister’s affairs.
• However, trouble arose when the court wanted to have an immediate proceeding to appoint Ursula as the guardian.
• The court scheduled a hearing for May 14, 2014.
• But due to certain pre-existing commitments, Ursula had to be out of town the entire month of May.
• The court held it’s hearing anyway, and when Ursula didn’t show, the Florida guardianship court appointed the Guardianship Program of Dade County, Inc., a professional public guardianship corporation.

Palm beach guardianship attorneys know that because of the extremely sensitive matters that go along with guardianship roles in Florida, the absolute best case scenario is to have a family member and loved one take that responsibility.  However, when family members are unavailable, public programs like the Guardianship Program of Dade County, or Palm Beach public and professional guardians, can be good alternatives.

Find out more on Guardianship in Florida.  See http://www.pankauskilawfirm.com/ for videos and information on Guardianship Law, Court-Appointed Guardians, and Power of Attorney.