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Being Prepared in Your Orlando, Florida Guardianship Case with the New Changes to Florida Statutes Regarding Guardianship Law

In order to be prepared for your Orlando, Florida Guardianship case, you need to know the new changes to the Florida Guardianship law. You must include in your Petition for Incapacity and Guardianship all facts involved in the case including the adverse facts. The adverse facts must be included in the Petition for Incapacity and Petition for Guardianship. You have an affirmative duty to inform the Court of all facts in the Petition for Incapacity and Petition for Guardianship. 

You need to know that in the Petition for Incapacity and Petition for Guardianship, you must include whether there are advance directives such as a health care surrogate, a power of attorney, any representative payees, or if there is a trust. Is there a preneed guardian, a will, or living will? Could these documents serve as a less restrictive alternative to a Guardianship? The Court needs to be notified of these documents, and the Court must consider the least restrictive alternative to Guardianship. 

However, a less restrictive alternative may not be viable if an Injunction for Protection Against Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult was issued. The least restrictive alternative may not be viable if the power of attorney was not proper. 

Further, if a relative has a power of attorney for the alleged incapacitated person, and they are abusing and improperly using the power of attorney to access the alleged incapacitated person’s funds, then you must motion the court to have that power of attorney suspended and revoked by the court. It is not an automatic suspension of a relative’s power of attorney when you file a Petition for Incapacity and Petition for Guardianship. You must request the suspension and/or revocation of that power of attorney by  a motion and include the request for revocation and suspension of the power of attorney in the petition for incapacity and the petition for guardianship. 

The preneed guardian has priority in bring appointed guardian unless it is contrary to the alleged incapacitated person’s best interest. 

If you have more questions regarding a Guardianship Law matter, you may call Ann Marie Giordano Gilden at Ann Marie Giordano Gilden, P.A. at 407-732-7620 and set an initial consultation. You may also visit my website at AnnMarieGildenLaw.com; and check me out on these other sites: Ann Marie Giordano Gilden on Facebook; Ann Marie (Giordano) Gilden on LinkedIn; and Ann Marie Giordano Gilden on AVVO and Lawyers.com. 

This article is for informational purposes only; and it does not form an attorney client privilege.