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Guardianship and supported decision making
Guardianship and supported decision making
About Guardianship
About Guardianship
Many families who have children with moderate to intensive special needs seek to obtain guardianship of their child once the child turns 18 years old. Parents/caregivers obtain guardianship for a multitude of reasons. Please read below for details.
Types of Guardianship:
Types of Guardianship:
Guardianship of the Estate-Guardianship of the estate gives the guardian the authority to make all financial decisions for the ward.
Guardianship of the Person-Guardianship of the person gives the guardian the authority to make day to day decisions of a personal nature, except financial decisions on behalf of the ward. Such decisions would include such things as arrangements for food, clothing, living arrangements, medical care, recreations and education. It includes consent for medical care and other treatment or training programs such as individual habilitation plans.
Guardianship of Person and Estate-The court can appoint a guardianship of a person and estate which gives the guardian the authority to make nearly all decisions for the individual, and combine the authority of guardianship of person and guardianship of estate.
Emergency Guardianship - Emergency guardianship allows a probate court to issue any order that it considers necessary to prevent injury to the person or the person's estate or may appoint someone as guardian without prior notice to the person and without a formal hearing when: 1) an emergency exists, and 2) a guardian is necessary to prevent injury to the person or estate of the person who is incompetent. This initial appointment of an emergency guardian may last for a maximum of seventy-two hours. For good cause shown, after notice to the person who is incompetent and other interested parties, and after a hearing, the court may extend an emergency guardianship for a specified period of time, but not to exceed an additional thirty days.
Interim Guardianship - An "interim guardian" is a guardian appointed after a former guardian has been removed or resigns when the welfare of the ward requires immediate action.
Co-Guardianship - Co-guardianship is when two people are appointed to act as guardian for someone at the same time.
Limited Guardianship- Limited guardianship allows a probate court to appoint someone as guardian over only a portion of a person's life where he or she is both incompetent and has a need. Thus, there can be a limited guardian for medical purposes only (to provide consent for medical procedures), or for placement purposes only (admission to a group home), or for the limited purpose of approving behavior plans and/or psychotropic medications. This less restrictive form of guardianship should be used instead of fill guardianship whenever possible. A ward for whom a limited guardian has been appointed retails all rights in all areas not covered by the court's order.
Alternatives to Guardianship
Alternatives to Guardianship
Power of Attorney: A "Power of Attorney" is a legal document that authorizes another person to act on behalf of a person. A power of attorney can grant complete authority or can be limited to certain acts and/or certain periods of time. In Ohio, there are laws that define several kinds of legal documents by which a person may name other people to speak for them.
Learn more about powers of attorney in the Advance Directives section of the Disability Rights Website.
Social Security Representative Payeeship: The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a program that provides financial management for people who are having difficulty managing their Social Security or Supplemental Security Income payments. The SSA first looks for family or friends to be a "representative payee." If family or friends are not available, SSA looks for qualified organizations to be a representative payee.
Adult Protective Services for adults with developmental disabilities (DD): Protective services are available for adults with DD through the person's local county board of DD
Adult Protective Services for the Elderly: If an elder in a nursing home or adult care facility has unmet needs or problems with care, the Long-term Care Ombudsman Program of the Ohio Department of Aging can help.
If an elder is suspected of being abused or neglected, contact the person's county department of Job and Family Services.
Protection Orders: A "protection order" is an order that lists a condition to provide safety and security for a specified person. A protection order may be used to order someone who is hurting a person or threatening to hurt a person to stay away and not have any contact.
Process for Obtaining Guardianship of the Person only
Process for Obtaining Guardianship of the Person only
Prospective guardian picks up the forms for guardianship at the William Howard Taft Law Center (230 E. 9 th Street, 9 th floor) or print them off the probate court website. https://www.probatect.org/forms/guardianship. There are approximately 44 pages in this packet.
It is important to note that the “Statement of Expert Evaluation” must be completed within 90 days before the guardianship paperwork is filed with the court and it must be an original not a copy. It must be signed by a doctor, a licensed psychologist or a psychiatrist, not a nurse.
Guardianship of the person only is $240.
The prospective guardian will need to drop off the paperwork at the William Howard Taft Law Center once it is completed. It should be dropped off at the information desk on the 9 th floor. At that point, a magistrate (judge) will be assigned. The prospective guardian will meet with the magistrate to set up a hearing date and have all paperwork approved. Typically, the hearing is set up for 5-6 weeks later. The hearing will not be before the 18th birthday. Then the prospective guardian will need to file with the cashier.
An investigator from the court will interview the ward. This will happen where the ward is during the day: school, home, so put the address where the ward would be during the day. This usually occurs around 2 weeks before the court date. Even if the ward is non-verbal they still need to be interviewed, it takes about 2 minutes.
The investigator from the court will prepare their report and then file it.
**If feasible, if the ward can come w/ the prospective guardian to the Probate office, the process can be done much quicker. If an investigator is available and the magistrate is available, the interview can happen that day and the hearing date can be set for about 2 weeks out.
At the hearing, the magistrate will:
Interview the applicant/prospective guardian
Explain the duties of the guardian
Have them take an oath
This hearing will take approximately ½ hour
The ward does not have to attend the hearing.
Every two years the guardian will complete a “Guardian’s Report”. This report is two pages long. This will need to be attached to the “Statement of Expert Evaluation” completed by the ward’s doctor, licensed social worker, licensed psychologist or HCDDS team.
If you have any questions about this process, call the probate court: 513-946-3600
There are many levels of Guardianship-more information can be found at the Ohio Developmental Disabilities.
Council website at https://ddc.ohio.gov/pub/guardianship-in-ohio
Contact
Contact
Hamilton County Probate Court:
Address: William Howard Taft Center
230 East Ninth Street, 9th Floor
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: 513-946-3600
Fax: 513-946-3581
Hours: Monday- Friday 8 AM- 4 PM
Website: www.probatect.org/forms/guardianship
Email: adultguardianedu@sc.ohio.gov
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