Geriatric Care Management Blog

This is my last posting of our three-part series with John Wank, President of the Illinois Guardianship Association.  He concludes our series with these answers to some final questions.

What are the limits, liabilities and responsibilities of guardianship? Guardianship is a public legal proceeding, with all cases beginning with the filing of a detailed medical report that will be viewed by the judge, a guardian ad litem and others.  Personal and financial information of all kinds may then become a subject of the guardianship proceeding and open to public view.  Persons with the ability to plan often consider the establishment of health-care proxies (powers of attorney, living wills) and other legal alternatives such as the trusts, joint ownership accounts, estate plans, and the like. Guardianship is always available for those who cannot plan or fail to do so. Can there be separate guardians for financial, health and other needs? Yes....

As a geriatric care manager, I work with court-appointed guardians.  You may recall from a blog last December, Caregiver or Guardian, we talked about guardianship.  I had the really good fortune to speak with John Wank, President of the Illinois Guardianship Association.  Mr. Wank also is General Counsel of the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission, a state agency.  He answered a lot of the questions I have heard from our clients.  This is going to take a few postings to get through them all.  Here are some questions and his answers for a start. What is a guardian? A guardian is a person appointed by a court to make personal or financial decisions for another person who has been found by the court to be incapacitated (a disabled person, under the Illinois definition) and unable to make decisions.  All guardianship in Illinois is governed...