Mesa Attorney Helps Establish Guardianships and Conservatorships

Practical, legal safeguards for your vulnerable loved ones

Is there someone in your life who, because of age or physical or mental incapacity, needs a responsible adult to provide care or make decisions? This may be the case with a minor or an adult, especially an elder. If you know such a person, it helps to realize that the law provides vehicles by which you can assume legal authority to act for that person’s welfare. As part of our estate planning practice, the Law Firm of Joseph M. Udall, PLC facilitates the transfer of legal authority through petitions to form guardianships and conservatorships throughout Arizona.

Estate planning attorney in Mesa helps guardians and wards throughout AZ

A guardianship allows a person or entity to make decisions and provide care for a person who becomes the ward. Guardians may be nominated in a will or may seek appointment by petitioning the court. In the case of a minor, the court considers the best interests of the child, and the preference of the minor if mature enough. A minor 14 years of age or older may nominate a guardian.

In the case of an incapacitated adult, the court has a list of priorities when deciding appointment:

  • The best interests of the ward
  • Previous appointment as the ward’s guardian in another state
  • Whether the adult ward has nominated the guardian
  • The ward’s spouse
  • Nomination of the guardian in the ward’s power of attorney 
  • An adult child of the ward
  • Any relative with whom the ward has lived for more than six months

Our firm helps prospective guardians and wards with their petitions and presentations to the court. With our estate planning practice, we help parents of special needs children with trust planning to establish a care regimen in advance.

AZ conservatorships to guard financial assets for a protected person

A concerned adult can also petition the court to create a conservatorship to oversee finances for an incapacitated or immature person. Here, too, a will can nominate a person or entity to act as conservator. The conservator becomes a fiduciary, charged with exercising care to use the financial resources for the good of the protected person. A conservatorship for a minor usually terminates when the person reaches the age of majority unless there are special needs.

Contact a knowledgeable Mesa, AZ attorney for answers to guardianship questions

The Law Firm of Joseph M. Udall, PLC helps Arizonans care for vulnerable loved ones in actions to establish guardianships and conservatorships. If you’re wondering how you might fit such contingencies into your estate plan, call 480-500-1866 or contact us online. We provide free telephone consultations, and Saturday and evening appointments are available. We speak Spanish fluently.