Guardianship is an important form of caregiving

Our recent Geezer Forums have focused on caregiving, mostly related to persons living with dementia. Next Tuesday’s Geezer Forum has that focus also, but with a legal twist.

We will explore the legal processes called guardianships and conservatorships. I personally believe they are, for persons who need them, very important forms of caregiving.

At the risk of over-simplifying those processes, I offer a quick summary of why and how guardianship and conservatorships happen. They are meant to protect both the assets and dignity of persons being cared for:

1. G/C documents are court-ordered only when a person is incapable of physically or cognitively making responsible daily decisions, thus is not able to care for himself/herself;

2. A guardian is appointed to attend to another person’s needs relative to daily living;

3. A conservator is appointed to take care of that person’s financial needs and well-being;

4. a G/C court proceeding can be quite expensive — less for an uncontested case, but upwards to $5,000 to $10,000 for one that is contested by the person who is the subject of the proceeding (“ward”), or someone else in the ward’s extended family;

5. An alternative to that expense comes through the Board of Community Guardians, a county-appointed group of volunteers who are trained to become guardians for persons who have limited income;

6. The G/C process is legally designed to protect the rights of the ward. There are at least two lawyers involved — one for the ward, one for the plaintiff (person seeking the G/C) — and a court visitor who visits everyone involved in the case and brings a report of those visits back to the court.

While a person may need court assistance to be protected through a G/C, a legal relationship made prior to considering G/C is always recommended: power of attorney for financial issues and power of attorney for health care. All of this requires advance planning. But this planning will be very helpful.

Both kinds of POA require that the person signing either of these documents be fully capable of understanding what these documents mean. Then both POAs go into effect only after the person is incapable of taking care of himself either physically, cognitively, or both.

To help us explore the ins-and-outs of these specialized forms of caregiving, the March 13 Geezer Forum will have three persons as our guests: Bill Berg and Andra Nelson, from the law firm of Berg, McLaughlin and Associates, plus Tami Feyen, chairperson of the Board of Community Guardians.

Together, they will help us better understand how guardianships and conservatorships work, when they are most needed, and how they care for both the assets and dignity of persons who can no longer make healthy decisions for themselves.

I continue to strongly believe that end-of-life planning goes so much better when we plan ahead. The best time to consider doing this while everyone is healthy. Next Tuesday’s Geezer Forum can be a healthy step toward that planning. Join us in the Community Room of Columbia Bank, 2:30-4 p.m.

Paul R. Graves, M.Div., is lead Geezer-in-Training for Elder Advocates, Inc., a consulting ministry focused on aging issues. He can be contacted by phone at 208-610-4971 or by email at elderadvocates@nctv.com.