Posts by Hurley Elder Care Law
Understanding Guardianships: How long do guardianships take to get? How long do they last?
Each county has a Probate Court that handles their resident’s guardianship hearings. Generally speaking, it can take over a month to complete the entire process of filing, serving, evaluating, and holding the hearing to have a guardian appointed. The length of time really depends on the specific court being used; some courts have longer wait…
Read MoreUnderstanding Guardianships: There are Risks with Pursuing Guardianship
The decision to pursue guardianship should not be taken lightly. There are real risks with pursuing guardianship: -The guardianship process requires you to say things about your loved one in open court and often in front of your loved one. Telling a judge that you think your mom is incapable of handling her own affairs…
Read MoreUnderstanding Guardianships: Who is appointed as guardian?
Once a judge has deemed a ward to be incompetent and has agreed that a guardianship should be in place, the judge has to appoint an appropriate guardian. There are some restrictions on who can be appointed as a guardian in Georgia. Only individuals (not organizations) can be guardians (unless the Guardian is the Georgia…
Read MoreUnderstanding Guardianships: What if there is no guardian available? Won’t DFCS be named as the guardian?
We often hear from healthcare professionals and long-term care providers who are concerned about incapacitated individuals needing a guardian and having no family or friends available to help them. What happens when an adult can no longer make his/her own decisions but there is no one to step in and help them? This situation is…
Read MoreHow is Competency Determined by a Court?
Only a person deemed to be incompetent by a judge can have a guardian or conservator named over him/her. The Georgia code states, “The court may appoint a guardian for an adult only if the court finds the adult lacks sufficient capacity to make or communicate significant responsible decisions concerning his or her health or…
Read MoreGuardian, Conservator, Executor, Power of Attorney—It’s all too confusing!
There are many legal terms for the roles we can play in an older adults life. Have you ever been asked if you are the guardian or the power of attorney for someone? What does it mean when you hear that someone is the executor or trustee for someone else? How about conservator—what is that?…
Read MoreUnderstanding Guardianship—What is it?
We often hear from concerned family members who are convinced they need to get guardianship over their loved one. Take this situation for example: a daughter calls our office after visiting an assisted living community. She is considering assisted living communities for her mom who has dementia, and one representative at a community told her…
Read MoreImportance of a will for Medicaid planning
For married couples, updating wills and beneficiary designations are important parts of Medicaid planning. Most of our clients have “I Love You” wills that leave everything to their spouse after their death. Likewise, their assets have their spouses as the Payable on Death Beneficiaries. This can be a huge issue if the spouse is receiving…
Read MoreHow often should I update my will?
“Do I need to update my will? My situation is very straightforward, and I don’t think anything has changed.” We are often asked this question, and everyone hopes that the answer is: “No—whatever you put in place 15 years ago is probably still fine.” Unfortunately, there are many reasons your will might need to be…
Read MoreCan my dad create a new will even if he has dementia?
We often hear from family members that assume it’s too late for their loved one to create and sign a new will because the person has dementia. Yes, at some point in the disease process, a person living with dementia will lose the capacity to sign legal documents. Having a diagnosis of dementia, however, does…
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