How to Change a Minnesota Guardianship
It may feel like your guardianship will last forever. However, on the contrary, there’s a bit of finiteness to your role that you may not have realized. Minnesota guardianship law says that someone can try to petition for your removal as a guardian for any good reason.
Whether they succeed or don’t succeed lies in the judgment of the court. You, in a separate circumstance, might not want to be in your role or feel that you’re able to fill your role any longer. If you’re wondering what might cause your guardianship to end or how you can leave the position, consider the following.
No Longer Fulfil Your Role
Just because you were able to be someone’s guardian doesn’t mean that you can be their guardian forever. Maybe you need to find a new job or there are family matters that are taking up your time. Either way, you can have someone else step into your role so that you can have more free time to focus on other matters. Perhaps, otherwise, you’re no longer physically able to do everything that you once could. Someone can become your successor guardian in case you can no longer fulfill your role.
While your guardianship will terminate automatically upon your passing, you’re not being forced to be a guardian for the rest of your life. It will probably mean dealing with a little bit of legal paperwork and having the court appoint someone else.
The court has to release you from your role before you can go free, and they’ll probably want someone else to take on the role for you. Realize that if you’re not there to do your duties for your ward, your ward will need someone else to carry out those tasks still. Your ward may not be able to do everything on their own, as evidenced by the fact that you were helping make their decisions.
Their Best Interest – Changes
The truth is that you’re not completely in control. That’s especially true when someone thinks that it’s best for you not to be your ward’s guardian anymore. Conservators also face this concern as well because there have to be checks and balances to ensure everything goes okay.
The party who doesn’t want you to have any more power as a guardian will probably have to petition the matter, and the court will also have to side with them before anything really serious happens.
You should also be aware that someone can petition your removal because they have a good reason to. Their goal may not be in the best interest of the ward directly, but there might be another reason that still brings about your termination. Being on your best behavior is a must if you don’t want this to happen. As far as you’re concerned, any mistake that you make can and will be held against you.
Will Trouble
For both spousal and parental appointments as guardians, there can be some potential issues that arise. They can work out as long as everything is done properly, but you need to be aware of how probate law impacts the situation. It’s completely possible that your ward may have wanted you to be their guardian, but if something goes awry during formal probate, causing the will to be denied, consider the guardianship terminated. This can even happen in cases where the will was originally informally probated, but was later reviewed during formal probate and was denied as a result.
That said, if you’re appointed as someone’s guardian in a will or looking to appoint someone as your guardian, that will should be foolproof. If that’s the only document that’s involved, it’s your only hope. Executors are usually the ones who need to memorize the will, but you should, too. If an executor is involved, consider talking to them about the matter. You may even want to go so far as to talk to your ward-to-be if they’re not incapacitated and can still modify the will in question.
More Appointments
The court has a lot of power in this circumstance. They can appoint more guardians and conservators whenever they feel like it’s necessary. If they want someone else there to do the job, it’s really not up to you. Another guardian can be appointed to start in their role immediately. You may not like that and you may feel envious, but it’s not ultimately up to you who fills in the role of a guardian. The law is rather open about when courts can pick out a new guardian to step in.
Vacancy is normally the thing that prompts the court to appoint a new guardian. If the court says that they think someone else needs to be brought in, they probably feel that the job isn’t getting done. They’re probably going to fill any vacancy, believing that the ward is still in a state that warrants external help. Nonetheless, the person who will be asked to be a new guardian might only have about thirty days to file an acceptance of appointment. So, that will give them about a month to start their new job.
Minnesota Guardianship Lawyers
Deciding whether or not you’ll be a guardian to your ward for much longer may not be up to you. You may or may not like the sound of that. But here’s a suggestion for you. Dial 612-424-0398 and get in contact with a guardianship lawyer from Flanders Law Firm LLC.
The situation probably won’t be settled until the court has their say in the matter. So, take the extra steps to either move forward or to try and prevent things from happening. What you should be looking out for is the very best for your ward. And if that means having you serve as their guardian, that might mean figuring out how to resolve the situation.
Sources
https://mncourts.gov/Help-Topics/Guardianship.aspx
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/524.5-112
