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Once a person have been declared incapacitated, whether partially or fully, the Guardianship Court will make a determination of who will be the Guardian. The court must appoint any standby guardian or preneed guardian qualified to serve, unless it is contrary to the person’s best interest. F.S. 744.312(1).
If there is no standby guardian or preneed guardian, the court may select any person who is qualified, but must give preference to someone who is related by blood or marriage to the person. F.S. 744.312(2).
A Florida resident who is sui juris and is 18 years of age or older qualifies as a guardian.
A person may not be appointed as a guardian if the person has been convicted of felony, is incapacitated, has been judicially been determined to have committed abuse or neglect against a child, or a person who has been found guilty, or entered a plea of nolo contendere to any offense prohibited under Section 435.04, Florida Statutes.
The petitioner must file a Petition for Appointment of Guardian. The Petition for Appointment of Guardian will be heard shortly after the adjudication of incapacity.
At the hearing, the court will issue an order which indicate whether the guardianship is plenary or limited and will issue Letters of Guardianship.
Upon 60 days of the Letters of Guardianship, the appointed guardian must file a verified Guardianship report, which includes accounting and a guardianship plan.
Guardianship is not an easy process. It is actually time consuming and has a lot of strict deadlines. The reason for this is that the court wants to protected the alleged incapacitated person, specially if he or she has been deemed to be incapacitated.
Things are not done there, after appointment, the guardian must file annual reports to the court and the court will verify that the guardian is performing its duties diligently.
Contact an experienced Miami guardianship attorney for further help. Call me at (305) 489-1415 or complete the form in this page. The information will be kept confidential.