How do I stop my Mom’s new Husband from getting guardianship?

Perhaps your mother is retired in Boca Raton and may be advanced in years. Her Boca Raton probate lawyer created a nice estate plan for mom, who is now married to her 2nd spouse.  Maybe you don’t get along, well, quite well with your step-father, your mom’s husband.   The next thing you know, there is a petition for guardianship filed by your stepfather in the Delray Beach probate court.  What should adult step-children know when your mom’s 2nd husband files for Florida guardianship?  To be clear, we are talking about a Florida guardianship of an adult person, like our mom or dad, not a guardianship Florida of a minor child.

Why did my mom’s 2nd husband file for guardianship Florida?

• A lot of adult children of mom may not understand why your step-father, your mom’s latest husband, wants to get guardianship Florida over your mom.
• Often times, let’s face it, adult children don’t get along with their mom’s latest spouse.
• Sometimes, say, the mom lives in Palm Beach County, Florida and the adult kids live hundreds if not thousands of miles away like in New Jersey, New York, or California or Seattle.
• So, what do you do when you learn your step father wants guardianship over your mom? and…………

How do I stop my mom’s husband from getting guardianship over mom in Palm Beach?

There is no guarantee, and, as many guardianship lawyers will tell you, a guardianship court is going to do what’s in the best interests of your mom to see that she is protected and cared for if she needs assistance.

1. First of all, you should get notice of the guardianship lawsuit Florida which is filed in the county where mom lives. So, for Boca Raton, guardianship lawyers Boynton Beach are filing in Palm Beach County.
2. Know where you are going.  Which probate court do you go to? Generally, you get assigned a court, or a Palm Beach probate division, based on the address of the Florida guardianship attorney who filed the petition for guardianship.
3. After you get notice, do you want to participate in the guardianship matter in Palm Beach?  If you want to be heard, get a guardianship lawyer Palm Beach. Consider not just someone who calls themselves an elder law lawyer Florida, but consider someone who actually tries cases in guardianship court.  Why?  Because if you are trying to stop your mom’s 2nd husband from getting guardianship over her, you will need evidence to challenge the guardianship petition and win. Challenge what?  It depends on what is alleged, and what the facts and circumstances for your mom are.  Although each case is different, with unique facts, it is true that the general procedure, what guardianship trial attorneys West Palm Beach call trial practice strategy, is generally, the same. Know the unique legal procedures for Florida guardianship’s, and also the law on evidence for guardianship’s.  It may not be enough that your guardianship lawyer knows the Florida Guardianship Code or the Florida Probate Code. What about Chapter 90 and the rules of evidence? Florida rules of civil procedure? If you might lose an issue, or the guardianship trial, do you know the best way to try to preserve issues for an appeal of the guardianship lawsuit? Are you versed in appellate law Florida? Remember, the best time to deal with appellate issues is in trial, and before trial: not when someone already lost or won a guardianship trial Palm Beach Gardens.  Ask your guardianship lawyer Florida how many trials —trials, not just hearings or court appearances–they have actually participated in. Do you want someone who plays 9 innings of baseball or just 2 ?
4. What if you were not told about your stepfather getting guardianship Florida over your mom?  Did your step father do something sneaky?  Like not tell you he hired a guardianship attorney?  And filed for guardianship over your mom?  If you were not  given notice, you can go into the Palm Beach probate court and tell the judge, and ask to be heard.  You may have a lot of legal work to do, depending on what the Palm Beach probate court has decided, and how advanced the guardianship proceeding is.
5. Be heard.  File an answer or a response to all that your stepfather files.  Petition for guardianship?  Emergency motion for temporary guardian?  How about a mental capacity case petition to determine if mom is competent or not?   Get your voice in the court record. Get your side of the story on the record and in Palm Beach probate court file.
6. Prepare, prepare, prepare.  Get ready for trial. Sure, probate lawyers call it a hearing, but it’s a trial.  Are you ready for your Palm Beach guardianship trial?  Do you know what to do with the examining commmittee reports? Do you know what to do if mom had a POA Florida power of attorney or a revocable trust Florida? What if mom named you or your sister — and not your step father — as her power of attorney Florida or as her trustee of her revocable trust Boca Raton?  Shouldn’t you be in charge of mom’s rights, liberties and money and not your stepfather?  Do you depose mom’s Boca Raton estate planning attorney? How about her physician? What documents do you need to introduce at the guardianship hearing Delray Beach? Do you need your own medical expert on capacity, incapacity, dementia, Alzheimer and other guardianship issues?
7. Florida Guardianship hearing.  Attend the Delray Beach guardianship hearing if mediation, negotiation and compromise don’t work in your mom’s guardianship matter Palm Beach.