Much of our discussion on the blog is about the usefulness of AZ guardianships and AZ conservatorships.  And while it is absolutely true that guardians and conservators are sometimes necessary to protect the interests of those who have lost capacity to care for themselves, other legal strategies can be even more useful in certain situations.  More specifically, when people make advance preparations, it is quite possible for them to establish a plan so that it never becomes necessary for their loved ones to establish an AZ guardianship or AZ conservatorship on their behalf. When we talk about advance preparations, one

One of the best things that people can do to prepare for unexpected medical crises is to establish powers of attorney and advance health care directives.  Having these legal documents in place can provide people with peace of mind that their medical affairs will be handled in the manner in which they want if they become unable to convey their medical wishes personally.  Although advance planning tends to be the best alternative, however, many people make absolutely no preparations of this sort.  And when somebody without advance directives loses capacity and requires medical attention, it may become necessary for somebody

You might need to establish a legal Arizona guardianship if a child who is not your own lives with you.  The first thing to consider when making this decision is how long you anticipate that the child will be in your custody.  Certainly if it is a permanent arrangement, establishing a guardianship might be a good idea.  If the child is only with you temporarily, however, you might not have much to gain from a guardianship, particularly given that it typically takes the court about eight weeks to formally appoint a guardian once it has been petitioned to do so.

Perhaps due to the inherently sensational nature of elder abuse, everybody has heard many horrible stories about various types of elder abuse.  One problem that is not quite as widely discussed, but that is no doubt just as harmful to the elderly, is self-neglect – and perhaps the best way to remedy a situation in which self-neglect is evident is with an Arizona guardianship. First of all, what is self-neglect?  Self-neglect can range from maintaining a poor diet to failing to take medication as prescribed.  More often than not, self-neglect does not stem from negligence, but it instead stems from

When we help a family establish a guardianship or conservatorship, we always counsel the appointed guardian or conservator to pay close attention to his or her fiduciary duties.  Likewise, we always counsel families to appoint somebody in whom they have complete confidence to serve as a guardian or conservator.  The reason for this, of course, is that guardians and conservators have quite a bit of authority over wards and protected persons, and every precaution should be taken to ensure that the ward or protected person is fully and adequately protected. Although it does not happen often, there are instances where

A tool that might help you obtain appropriate medical care for a person close to you is a legal guardianship.  Arizona has specific laws surrounding guardianships, however, so to obtain a legal guardianship, Arizona residents must closely adhere to the pertinent rules.  This begins with filing a petition for a legal guardianship – Arizona residents must file this petition with the court in order to establish a guardianship.  The next step to establishing a legal guardianship Arizona residents need to know is demonstrating to the court that a guardian is indeed necessary.  Only if the court agrees that a guardian

If you want to know what can happen if you do not establish a guardianship for a person about whom you are concerned, speak with a few lawyers who handle guardianship in Arizona.  They will likely tell you story after story about clients who waited too long to establish a guardianship, and instead watched idly by while the health of the people they loved deteriorated.  Sadly, these individuals could very well have helped their loved ones by taking control of the situation and establishing a guardianship sooner. If you want to know what can happen if you try to handle

Any Arizona guardianship lawyer will tell you that guardianship proceedings typically arise from an unforeseen exigency.  In other words, most people do not plan on needing a guardian at some future time.  Rather, most people who need guardians did not let their families know how they would like their medical affairs to be handled.  Then, if these individuals lose capacity to make their medical decisions, their loved ones must petition the court with an Arizona guardianship lawyer so that a guardian can step in and make these decisions for them. But the role of an Arizona guardianship lawyer goes beyond