Planning & Advocacy for Incapacity

When a person needs care due to incapacity, it’s important that their wishes are met with the right protections including guardianship or a special needs trust. We help to plan, prepare, and intervene when heightened needs are at issue.

Sometimes adults need help. When a person needs care due to incapacity, it’s important that their wishes are met with the right protections about care and finances to assure the greatest comfort and security for yourself or a loved one.

Guardianship is a legal concept that places the care, and assets of an individual in the hands of a responsible adult. Guardians can be appointed due to sudden incapacity or lifelong intellectual or physical incapacity. Deciding who and when guardianship is appropriate shouldn’t be left in the hands of strangers or the courts to appoint agencies if it can be helped. If and when an adult lacks or loses the capacity to manage for themselves, it is critical to understand how to prepare and implement protections so that you and your loved ones are in the priority. We work with clients in and through all aspects of guardianship.

• Preparing: We counsel and advise clients on the availability of guardianship for their friends and relatives. Our trusts and estates attorneys can draft and facilitate the execution of guardianship designations.
• Obtaining: We draft and prosecute petitions for Guardianship of adults who are incapacitated, including filing the necessary documents with the Court, preparing witnesses for hearings and trial, and conducting appeals when necessary.
• Implementing: We help guardians comply with their legal reporting requirements for purposes of care and finances. We have close relationships with fiduciary accountants who provide additional critical support.
• Stepping In: Sometimes, an attorney is needed to evaluate a proposed or existing guardianship. When guardianship proceedings are brought, outside lawyers called “court appointees” join the case.  Jill is a court appointee and, regularly assesses and investigates whether guardianship is appropriate and who should be appointed as guardian. The court also appoints Jill as an advocate on behalf of alleged incapacitated persons in these proceedings.

We can help you live your best life and access appropriate benefits to help make that happen. For adults who require help and care, there is a complex array of support available through government services. Often, to qualify for these services, an individual’s finances need to be drained, leaving them in a precarious situation. A Special Needs Trust, such as an Income Only Asset Protection Trust can be established for an adult who needs it and/or lacks the total capacity to transfer assets and allow for qualification for government services and benefits.

• Medicaid: If you or your loved one needs Medicaid benefits, we will assist you to prepare the necessary information and filings to qualify for the appropriate programs.

• Certified Guardian ad litem for Surrogate’s Courts
• Court Evaluator for New York State Supreme Courts
• Referee for New York State Supreme Courts
• Court Examiner for New York State Supreme Courts, Kings and Richmond Counties for Article 81 Guardianships (2007 – 2015)
• Certified Guardian for New York State Supreme Courts
• Certified Receiver for the New York State Supreme Courts