If you are thinking about getting guardianship of your adult child with special needs, consider whether and when you may want to terminate that guardianship in the future. Since ending the guardianship can be difficult, you should fully understand how the process works before you file for guardianship of your child.

Ending or Changing a Guardianship

A guardianship may be appropriate if your adult child with disabilities cannot make basic life decisions or properly manage their own money or property. To get guardianship of your adult child, you must file a petition in court and get an order giving you guardianship from the judge.

Likewise, if you want to change or end a guardianship, you must go back to court and get a court order changing or ending the guardianship. The process of ending a guardianship in court can be time-consuming and expensive. Furthermore, it is up to the judge whether to end the guardianship. In some cases, based on the evidence, the judge may not terminate or change the guardianship as you are requesting.

A guardian may have various reasons for wanting to end a guardianship. For instance, the adult with special needs may no longer need as much assistance or may not need a guardian at all. A guardian may pass away, move away, become ill, or be unable to continue being the guardian for other reasons. Another reason for ending a guardianship would be if the guardian hasn’t been doing their job or is no longer willing to be the guardian. The adult with special needs may request that the guardianship be terminated for one reason or another. Finally, the adult child may pass away, which automatically terminates the guardianship.

Consider Whether Guardianship is Right for Your Child

Since ending a guardianship requires going back to court, consider whether guardianship is the right choice for your family in the first place. Not all adult children with special needs must have a guardian. Depending on the situation, an adult child with special needs may be able to function at least partially independently with some help from a parent or other family member.

A parent of an adult child with disabilities can legally assist their child with various tasks without a guardianship. For instance, if an adult child can legally do so, they can sign a power of attorney permitting their parents to help them with certain actions or decision-making as needed. A parent and an adult child can have a joint bank account that allows the parent to monitor the child’s finances. If your adult child is set to inherit or receive a large sum of money, you can set up a special needs trust to place conditions on your child’s usage of the funds.

Call Rubin Law Today to See How We Can Help  

Rubin Law is the only Illinois law firm to dedicate itself exclusively to providing compassionate legal services for children and adults with special needs. We offer unique legal and future planning techniques to meet your family’s individual needs.

Call us today at 866-TO-RUBIN or email us at email@rubinlaw.com to learn more about the services we can offer you and your family.