What is a guardianship?
Guardianships is a legal relationship between a competent adult or legal entity and a person 18 years old or older, who has a disability that leaves him or her without the capacity to act on his or her own.

Generally, there are two types of guardianships: guardianship of the person and guardianship of the estate. Sometimes a guardian is appointed to be a guardian of both the person and estate of a ward. The court grants guardianship of the person (termed the “ward”) when the ward cannot make the decisions about his or her own care—taking medicine, performing necessary hygienic duties, buying and eating the right foods, and the like. The court grants guardianship of the estate when the ward cannot make reasonable decisions about his or her money and property.

A guardianship may be only granted when it is in the best interest of a person. Courts will grant guardianship only when proper medical evidence is presented, and the court finds that no other assistance will do, except guardianship.

Guardianship is a time-consuming and expensive process. Prudent estate planning avoids the necessity of guardianships.



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Not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.