How do I stop my sister from getting Palm Beach guardianship over my mother? 10 Things Every Family Member Should Consider

Why are Florida guardianships increasing?  As our parents age, their bodies may be holding out just fine, but their minds, well, they, well, …………..slow down.  Our parents are slowing down here in Palm Beach County.  

While Palm Beach Guardianships Are Increasing, So Too, Are Family Guardianship Lawsuits in Florida

• Some suggest that more than ever before, we have a greater likelihood that we will become incompetent or incapacitated before we die.
• Often, people like family members and close loved ones, even neighbors, are turning to the Florida probate courts to intervene and help people who are suffering fromdementia and Alzheimers.
• So, when we talk about Florida guardianship matters, we are talking about someone asking the Probate Court, by filing a Florida guardianship petition, to declare someoneincompetent or incapacitated and to appoint someone, a guardian, to exercise that person’s rights…… and
• To be in charge of ALL  of the person’s money.

How do I stop my stepmother from controlling my dad’s money in a guardianship Florida?

• Now, since family members don’t always get along, the issue of who “controls” or is “in charge” of dad or mom, and who is in charge of mom or dad’s money, is often a hotly contested issue.  Or, rather, it can be.
• That’s where siblings, brothers & sisters, or even 2nd or 3rd spouses, so called step parents, and stepchildren can “fight” it out in probate court.
• “I want to control mom !” some say.  Or… “Don’t let him be in charge of dad’s money!”  others argue.  Sometimes, sibling rivalry gets the better of brothers and sisters and they don’t want the other to be in charge of the guardianship. Sometimes one files for guardianship without telling the other.
• Who will control mom or dad and their money after a guardianship trial?
• Guardianship litigation is exploding in South Florida and counties like Palm Beachand Broward, their probate courts, have dozens if not hundreds of cases.
• And while research for Alzheimers and dementia seems to increase, and help, nuerologists, doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists, and indeed family members, the truth is that many family members are turning to  Florida guardianship courts to intervene in the life of a mother or father.
• So, here are 10 (ten) Florida guardianship topics which family members may wish to consider.
• Please remember, when commenting on Florida guardianship and probate, we are talking about a guardianship of an adult, like a mother or father, and not a guaridan of a minor child.

10 Things Families Should Consider in Florida Guardianships

1. Serious stuff. Thinking about filing for guardianship in Palm Beach? Well, understand that Guardianships in Florida are serious stuff.  It is a legal proceeding and all this “stuff” happens when you file a petition. Like what?
2. Guardianship Teams.  A judge reviews the matter, a guardianship lawyer is appointed to represent the alleged incapacitated person, a temporary guardian might be appointed, and he or she may have his or her own guardian lawyer Delray Beach. Then, yes, it’s not over yet, an examining committee is appointed: 3 persons who will interview and examine your dad or mom and file an examining committee report.
3. Reports.  In the reports, the examining committee members will make very serious suggestions about what rights should be taken away and which rights should notbe taken away.  Should dad be able to handle his own money? Determine where he lives?  Keep the right to vote? Drive? Or…. should all of those rights be taken away ,and should the probate court West Palm Beach create a plenary guardianship.  You see, by filing for guardianship Palm Beach Gardens, do you realize that you are asking a Probate Court Judge to intervene in someone’s life? How serious is this?
4. Human rights and civil liberties.  That Palm Beach probate court judge is being asked to take away someone’s rights. Since we are dealing with someone’s civil liberties and human rights, Florida guardianships are serious business. A Delray Beach probate court, for example, may, or may not, remove the right to vote, or to drive, or to determine where someone lives, or who someone can associate with.
5. Will Dad be Mad?   Also, family members and boyfriends and girlfriends need to know that if mom or dad are still with it, but may be slipping a little, they may, maybe not, beupset if you file for guardianship. How do you handle dad when filing for guardianship may upset him but you know it’s the right thing to do? This is a personal, family issueor matter that may be just as important as the legal issues which your Palm Beach guardianship lawyer helps you with. Remember: in a Palm Beach Gardens guardianship, not only are someone’s civil liberties and human rights at stake, as well as their money, but their feelings and dignity are on the line, too.
6. Know where you are going. A Florida Guardianship Court is the probate court. Why? Because in Palm Beach, all guardianship matters are filed in the Probate Division. According to the Florida Guardianship Code, you have to file for guardianship in Florida where the alleged incapacitated person resides. Where is mom or dad’s residence? What do you do if Mom’s house or Florida homestead is in Boca Raton, but she is living in an assisted living facility in Broward County?
7. Guardianship Experts. Chapter 744 of the Florida Statutes or Florida Laws is called theGuardianship Code. The entire Florida Probate Code is applicable to Florida Guardianships. So, you have special statutes and unique rules that you have to deal with. You, too, can be an expert on guardianship law.  Why?  Because there isn’t that much in Florida.  Guardianship law is developing and while the lawyers and legislators who draft or suggest legislation to help families and alleged incapacited persons who are involved with Florida Guardianships, it is, admittedly a growing area of the law which is still evolving.  You can read most the Florida guardianship laws online for free.  You are not going to get a jury trial in a Palm beach guardianship trial. There are important Florida cases out there, Florida guardianship appeals court cases, which tell you what the guardianship code means.
8. Ready for Trial?  Don’t be fooled by a soft spoken probate or guardianship lawyer who downplays the hearing on the guardianship.  You are in a court of law, after all: a probate court, sometimes referred to as a guardianship court.   Did you know that guardianship “hearings” are actually full blown trials where the rules of evidence apply? You can make hearsay objections and call witnesses and introduce documents or other evidence. Are you ready and are you prepared for your guardianship hearing?  DON’T think that you are necessarily going to just have your elder law lawyer go in and talk wonderfully.  You need evidence to keep your sister or brother from being the guardian.  If you want to stop your brother from being the guardian of mom, then who are you going to call as your first witness at the guardianship trial?  Who is going to testify to the documents which you want to go into evidence?  How , by the way, do you get those emails from your brother to you into evidence?   Serious, serious stuff. (Oh, by the way, are you calling your own medical expert to testify about your parent’s mental state and whether he or she is partially incapacitated?  Is an estate planning attorneyBoca Raton going to testify about their estate plan and POA?  See paragraph 10. below)
9. Protect, protect and protect. Remember how some police forces have a motto to protect and to serve? Well, consider the same thing for filing for guardianship in Florida. You, and everyone around you, including the Delray Beach probate court, should befocussed on one thing: protecting and assisting the person who is the subject of the guardianship, the so called alledged incapacitated person. (If a guardianship is created, then your mom or dad become known as the Ward in a Florida guardianship.) If you hate your brother, the probate court will probably see this.  If your sister is a bad person who just wants to control mom’s money, the court will probably figure this out.  Remember:  probate judges and guardianship courts from Palm Beach Gardens to Delray Beach see this sibling rivalry and guardianship litigation all the time.  Thankfully, you get a fair shake from our probate judges. THEY are dis-interested other than to protect and look for the person who is accused of being incapacitated.  The court will make sure that mom or dad is secure, safe and being attended to. This often includes making sure dad’s caregivers & caretakers get paid, and that the taxes are paid and that the homestead or assisted living facility is secure and adequate. At the end of the day, the focus should be: how do we all help mom or dad and protect them?
10. Interested persons & lesser restrictive alternatives. Does mom or dad have a power of attorney, a Florida POA? How about a revocable living trust or health caredocuments like health care proxies and living wills. If so, if these Florida estate planning documents adequately address the needs of the ward, your mom or dad, then you may not need a guardian. One question becomes: should you give notice of the guardianship to the trustee of the Florida revocable trust and to the Florida Power of Attorney?

One final thought for family members on filing for guardianship in Florida: as long as you are an interested person under the Florida guardianship code, you can participate, which means you can question who may be guardian and you may even be able to apply yourself to be guardian or to oppose someone from getting guardianship, like a brother or sibling who does not have dad’s or mom’s best interest at hear. You are probably asking yourself: how do I stop by brother or sister from getting guardianship over mom or dad?