Current Events

The ABA and other State Bars are revising recommended conduct around attorney's pursuing Guardianships as a first option with clients that have limited capacity to hopefully minimize the overuse and abuse that this tool has been used to inflict on some. The idea of the revisions is more about encouraging the use of Guardianship as a last resort versus a first step, but recognizes the importance of the legal tool in a variety of circumstances.

Is anyone experiencing or is witnessing this possible change in practice?

Or has witnessed and seen the abuse or effects of this tools within their role as a paralegal?  

ABA, State Bars Urging Attorneys to Pivot From Guardianships

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ABA, State Bars Urging Attorneys to Pivot From Guardianships Several states are weighing an ABA-led push to encourage attorneys handling intellectually disabled and elderly clients to consider alternatives to legal guardianships. View this on Bloomberglaw >

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Michael Friedlander CP
UCLA Extension Paralegal Certificate
San Francisco CA
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In my personal opinion, I think this is a great step in the right direction.  Before becoming a paralegal, I worked in public guardianship for ~10 years and then private guardianship for another 5.  I think that the courts and attorneys are too quick to implement guardianship before exploring other less restrictive options.  I am now an estate planning/trust/guardianship paralegal and I am relentlessly advocating for guardianship to be a tool of last resort. 

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Lilian Morales, FRP
Fort Lauderdale FL
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