What should be considered before pursuing a guardianship?
When a person has significant problems managing his/her personal or health care or property or financial affairs, a guardianship may be appropriate. A guardianship should be viewed as an option of last resort, however, because it deprives an adult of very significant personal rights and can be costly and time consuming, both to create and to manage, as it involves going to Court periodically and may necessitate hiring an attorney. Before pursuing a guardianship, the specific problems the person is having should be considered first, and thereafter whether other alternatives are available to address those problems.
