A minor guardianship is a mechanism to give a person who is not the child’s parent authority to make decisions on behalf of the minor. There are different circumstances that require a guardian to be appointed. Some examples are when both parents are killed suddenly, like in a plane crash. Other instances may be the custodial parent dying and the living parent being in jail, in drug treatment, in the armed forces or just basically absent from the child’s life.
If one of the above events occur, or any other unfortunate circumstances occur to leave a child without a responsible decision maker, a guardian needs to be appointed for the well being of the child. In the absence of a parent, some of the situations that require a guardian are enrolling a minor child in school, contracting for medical treatment, obtaining health insurance and to do other things a parent could do if present.
There are several factors in determining whether a full or partial guardianship is right for your situation. Some of these involve the age, history, and medical needs of a minor. Appointing a guardian involves a lot of paperwork and can be overwhelming. Let our experienced attorneys at Steslicki and Ghannam PLC help guide you through this process so that you are able to properly care for the minor child in need.
