This area applies when someone is not able to take care of their personal needs or financial needs either due to their being under the age of 18 and without living natural parents or persons over the age of 18 who cannot take care of these needs or need some assistance with taking care of these needs.
For adults, there are two types of Guardianships and two types of Conservatorships.
A Guardianship is authority over the person such as where they live, their medical care, etc. A Conservatorship is authority over a person's finances. There is Partial and Full powers that can be granted by the Court. If someone merely needs help with these decisions, partial guardianship and/or conservatorship may be needed. If the person is not in the condition to assist with making decisions, full guardianship is needed. Normally the Court prefers to have ONE person appointed. Although the Court will appoint Co-Guardians in some instances (mainly parents of a disabled adult child), they do not want to appoint Co-Conservators since they want clear evidence of which Party is involved in the various transactions needed for the benefit of the Ward (the person who needs the help).
The hardest part for most people is that the individual's physician will need to fill out a form to provide to the Court as evidence of the capabilities of the individual and if it appears they can perform certain tasks without assistance. We will provide the form for the Physician to make things as easy as possible This task will need to be done PRIOR to filing the case with the Court.
For people with children with autism, this can be a hard decision and there are many factors to consider in if this step is best for your child. Each case of autism does not look like another and certainly a physician or other social worker may have opinions of if this is necessary. We understand that your goal is to protect your child and this is a big decision for you. We are here to help you talk through this decision to make the choice that is best for your family.