Guardianship

Legal Guardianship of a minor

According to California Courts, legal guardianship of a minor is a situation in which the court grants the custody of a child to someone other than the child’s parent(s) in one of three ways:

• To have custody of the child and care for his or her physical well-being; or
• To manage the child’s estate (in other words, the property of the child); or
• Both to have custody of the child and to manage his or her property.

A legal guardian is usually someone other than a biological parent that has been given custody of a child (or children) by the court in the state of California. It is important to note how thorough the process of determining whether they should give legal custody of a child to someone other than a biological parent. The success rate of guardianship is based on several factors that prove categorically that the biological parent(s) are unable to care for the child.

Some of these factors include but aren’t limited to:

1. Alcoholism
2. Death
3. Deportation
4. Domestic violence
5. Drug addiction
6. Illness
7. Incarceration
8. Military duty overseas
9. Profound financial issues
10. Or other issues deem fit by the court

Guardianship is different from adoption

It is essential to know that guardianship and adoption are two very different situations under the law. The primary difference is that, with a guardianship, the child’s parent or parents still retain parental rights over the child. As such, the parent can ask the court to have reasonable contact with his or her child. In an adoption, however, parental rights are permanently terminated. As such, the legal relationship between the child and the adoptive parents is a permanent one, and as far as the law is concerned, it looks just like the relationship between a child and his or her birth parents.

The role of the court also differs during and after a guardianship and adoption. During the period of guardianship, the court can supervise the guardian. Also, the court can end a guardianship if the child’s parent or parents can take care of the child. After an adoption, however, the court does not supervise adoptive families and cannot decide to reverse an adoption if the parents become able to care for the child.

Adult Guardianship

Adult guardianship is a legal procedure in which a court determines that a person is incapable of making decisions because of severe disabilities, and that the person needs protection. This condition is called “disability”. If the court finds a person to be unable to make decisions due to a disability, it will appoint someone to act on behalf of the disabled person, making decisions about the individual’s person, property or both.

The court appoints a guardian of the person if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that an individual is incapable of making or communicating decisions regarding his or her person, giving informed consent for treatment, or making decisions about where he or she will live. The guardian of the person has the same rights and duties that a parent has over a minor child.

The guardian of the person may file an annual report describing the disabled person’s circumstances over the past year. The court may give a guardian of the person the authority to make all decisions for the person or it may outline specific authority of the guardian. The individual retains the right to make decisions over anything for which the guardian is not responsible.

Let us help you

Only a court can appoint a legal guardian – it’s a legal relationship. At Woodman Garcia-Sepulveda (WGS Law), we advise or clients on the intricacies involved in becoming the successful guardian of a child. We equally diligently follow through with the process, ensuring that our clients are correctly and best dealt with by the court.

Are you seeking to attain the guardianship of a child(s) in the state of California? Woodman Garcia-Sepulveda (WGS) has a track record of successful guardianship cases. We’ve worked on a multitude of cases, with different challenges and technicalities. Contact us now by filling the form below to get started on your case!

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