You need official guardianship forms when a child would get relegated to the care of a person other than the parents. This generally happens when the parents getting into an accident, grave illness or even death. Keep in mind that to filing an official guardianship case, these forms don’t serve as an alternative. When filing your legal guardianship form, specify whether the guardianship is either permanent or temporary.
Table of Contents
- 1 What is a guardianship form?
- 2 Free Guardianship Forms
- 3 Types of guardianship forms:
- 4 Temporary Guardianship Forms
- 5 The elements of a guardianship form:
- 6 Legal Guardianship Forms
- 7 Becoming a legal guardianship of a child, what does it mean?
- 8 How to get guardianship papers?
- 9 Is it possible to file for guardianship without a lawyer?
- 10 Without going to court, what is the process of getting guardianship of a child?
- 11 Temporary Guardianship Without Court
- 12 Conclusion:
- 13 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is a guardianship form?
When you have to officially transfer guardianship from one person to another, you use guardianship form. However, the main purpose of this document is to identify who gets to take care of the minor or a mentally incapacitated adult. This form can also be used when a parent cannot care for the child anymore due to some reason.
For instance, when an active duty member of the military gets sent overseas, you also need free guardianship forms. In such a case, the form is used to grant another individual to care for the child temporarily. For each state, the requirements of the form vary. But, all of them may need the same basic information.
You should first talk to the individual you plan to list as a guardian before writing a temporary guardianship letter or filling up a form in order to make sure that they feel comfortable accepting the responsibility.
Free Guardianship Forms
Types of guardianship forms:
Guardianship is a legal process whose main purpose is to protect individuals who aren’t capable to care for their own well-being due to infancy, disability or incapacity. The court has to appoint the legal guardian.
While representing the financial and personal interest of the ward, the person, as a legal guardian has the legal authority to make the decisions for their wards. The type of legal guardianship form is based on the type of guardianship required;
Guardianship of a minor
To take care for a minor, the court appoints a guardian who isn’t the parent of the child. The court can assign this type of guardianship in case of following situations;
- Abandoned minors
- When a minor’s parents died
- When the parents of the minor don’t have the ability to give proper care
Moreover, in free guardianship forms, the stated legal guardian can be a friend, a member of the family or another person that the court thinks will take care of the minor. The guardian may receive physical custody as the legal guardian of a minor. He/she also acts as a financial guardian who manages the property or assets of the minor.
Guardianship of a child
Adults who get custody of a child will get the responsibility of giving for the child’s requirements. Often, to continue with financial support, the parents of the child will still be legally obligated. In the guardianship letter, the guardian has the following responsibilities;
- To make sure that the child will always get the basic requirements such as shelter, food, education, medical care, and clothing.
- For the child, to consent and make all of the decisions that includes the child’s education and health.
- Until the child reaches 18 years of age, maintain custody of the child.
Guardianship of an estate
The court may appoint a guardian of the estate in case a minor owns a lot of properties or a large amount of money. On behalf of the minor, this guardian will have the responsibility of making all of the financial decisions unless the minor reaches 18 years of age or the minor’s assets have been fully depleted.
Guardian ad litem
To represent the interest of a minor in legal proceedings, this type of guardian gets appointed by the court. These may include probate matters, divorce cases, and other circumstances where the minor experienced abuse or neglect.
Additionally, as conservators, guardian’s ad litem get appointed by the court to secure the interests of incapacitated persons or the elderly. Before a guardian gets appointed, these are certain steps to take. This is because guardianship may deprive the individual of personal rights.
Before any guardianship proceedings, an individual has a right to notice or representation by a counsel. Also, the individual has the responsibility to attend, present evidence, and confront witnesses during the proceeding.
Guardianship of a person
This needs the guardian to make decisions that includes the support and care of an incapacitated or elderly person. They include the following responsibilities;
- To keep an eye on medical treatment, organize professional services, and make end-of-life decisions.
- Think about the desires and wishes of his ward and their personal and physical requirements while making decisions.
- The guardian also assumes responsibility for the personal property of his ward in case the person owns a lot of properties of assets.
- Continue the responsibilities until the ward dies.
Temporary Guardianship Forms
The elements of a guardianship form:
Include the following major elements in the guardianship form;
Determine everyone involved
In this section, you have to include the dependents, yourself, and the appointing guardian. You should also provide here complete legal names, details about the assets, date of birth and gender of the dependents, and information about guardian including their address, contact information, and relationship to the dependent.
Duration of the appointed guardian
It is important to clearly state the time period of your appointed guardian. During this time period, the guardian has guardianship responsibilities. This information is highly important especially situation is temporary. The guardianship duration may vary from state to state so you must check your state laws.
Guardian Responsibilities
In the document, describe in detail about guardian’s responsibilities and duties as well as their limitations.
Signatures and notarization
It may vary from state to state the requirement for witnesses, signatures, and notarization. Every state may need at least one witness and for the document to be notarized. The appointed guardian must sign and date the form.
Legal Guardianship Forms
Becoming a legal guardianship of a child, what does it mean?
The person will take daily decision-making and care for the child as a legal guardian. The legal guardian, generally speaking, will take over the upbringing and care of the child that involves all of the parental decisions. In the guardianship letter, the stated legal guardian can;
- On the behalf of the child, request for or accept medical treatment.
- In any preferred school in his/her community, enroll the child.
- Give everything required for the general welfare of the child.
Legal guardians definitely have some limitations. Guardianship forms, for one, don’t contain financial responsibilities as these retain with the child’s parents. However, in many cases, the guardians may also give financial support for the child but it depends on the situation as well as the agreement between the parents and the guardian.
How to get guardianship papers?
You have to file documents in court to establish the guardianship of a child. At first, to become a guardian, file a petition and get a guardianship letter with consent from the parents of the child. When you have filed the necessary papers, an interview is scheduled by the court with you, the child, and the parents of the child. A prospective guardian’s criminal background check may also require by the court at that time as well as a home inspection.
The petitioner will grant an order to appoint guardianship when the guardianship partition is approved by the judge. To get further instructions, you should go through the local website of your government.
Is it possible to file for guardianship without a lawyer?
Legal guardianship is a legal status that makes someone able to take care for a minor and make their lives important decisions. The laws regarding guardianship vary from state to state. You have to file a petition with the court in most jurisdictions to become a legal guardian. Without hiring a lawyer, you can file temporary guardianship to get legal guardianship of a person.
Without going to court, what is the process of getting guardianship of a child?
In order to become a guardian legally, you have to follow different steps to file important documents with the court. These steps would lead to a court hearing. All this process may not require the services of a lawyer. You would be energetic and have enough time to file all of the forms.
You should follow proper rules throughout the entire process in order to process your case timely. In the following cases you may require a lawyer;
- If a child has owned great value property or assets.
- When there are some legal cases that involve the child
- When there is already a child custody issue such as adoption, juvenile charges, and more
- The child needs special requirements
- Federal laws will apply in case the child is a Native American.
Temporary Guardianship Without Court
Conclusion:
In conclusion, a guardianship form is a legal document that enables a person to care for an adult or a minor and make decisions on their behalf. This document is used to officially transfer guardianship from one person to another.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
It would be advisable that temporary guardianship should be notarized like any legal documents. You should notarize the document before submitting it to the court.
In a temporary guardianship, the parent’s rights must be respected. The consent of parents is always required. However, the temporary guardian has the similar rights as the parents during their time period.
Grace Harry is an experienced freelance writer with an experience for 12+ years. She got her Master’s in Financial Management degree from the University of Dennison in 2007. She worked at California State Bank to help clients with their credit, investments, and bank accounts. She likes to assist people in reaching their financial goals when it comes to financial planning.
