Guardianship Attorney in West Palm Beach

Adult guardianship steps in when a grown person can no longer manage their own affairs. A stroke, dementia, a brain injury, or a serious mental illness can all trigger it. Think of a husband whose wife now forgets to eat, leaves the stove burning, and cannot name her own doctors. He can ask a Florida court to appoint him her guardian so he can direct her care and protect her savings before they vanish. The court reviews the medical evidence before it grants that power.

Minor guardianship lets a responsible adult take legal charge of a child when the parents cannot. This comes up when a grandparent is raising a grandchild, or when someone has to manage money a child inherited. Say a child receives a life insurance payout after a parent dies. Florida requires a guardian of the property to hold and account for those funds until the child turns 18. A guardianship attorney handles the petition and the reporting that follows.

Guardian advocacy is a faster, lighter option under Section 393.12 of the Florida Statutes. It serves adults with conditions like autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, or an intellectual disability. The big advantage is what it skips, which spares families a great deal of time and stress.

How Guardian Advocacy Helps Families When a Child With Special Needs Turns 18

The day a child turns 18, the law treats them as a full adult overnight. Parents suddenly cannot see medical records, approve treatment, or manage benefits for a child they have cared for their whole lives. A mother who handled every doctor visit for 18 years can be locked out the morning of a birthday. Guardian advocacy restores that authority through the court so she can keep making decisions for her son.

Why Guardian Advocacy Can Skip the Full Incapacity Trial in Florida

Here is what makes guardian advocacy so useful. A parent can become a guardian advocate without first proving the adult child is legally incapacitated. There is no full incapacity trial and no examining committee, the way a standard adult guardianship requires. For families who simply need to keep helping a child with a known, lifelong disability, that shorter path is usually the right one.

Florida sorts guardianship by how much control the guardian receives, and the court always reaches for the least restrictive option that still keeps the person safe. A plenary guardianship transfers nearly all decision-making power because the person cannot handle any of it. A limited guardianship transfers only the specific powers the person has actually lost.

That distinction matters because Florida law lets a court divide a person's rights with real precision. Depending on the evidence, a judge can assign or remove control over:

How a Limited Guardianship Preserves a Person's Remaining Rights

A limited guardianship respects what the person can still do for themselves. Maybe your father can choose where he lives and still votes in every election, but he cannot manage a six-figure investment account anymore. The court can hand the guardian control over the finances while leaving those other rights where they belong, with him. That balance protects his dignity and keeps the guardian focused only on the real problem areas.

How a Judge Decides Which Rights a Guardian Controls

A Florida judge does not guess. The decision rests on the examining committee's findings and the evidence about what the person can and cannot do safely. If someone can still make their own medical choices but not their own financial ones, the order should say exactly that. A guardianship attorney's job is to make sure the court grants enough authority to protect the person without stripping away rights they are still capable of exercising.

Guardianship costs depend on the type of case and how complicated it gets. A straightforward, uncontested guardianship costs far less than a contested one where family members fight, or a guardian has to be removed. There are also court filing fees and the cost of the examining committee, on top of attorney fees.

The Law Office of Camille R. McBride explains the likely cost based on your specific situation, so you get a realistic picture instead of a vague guess. The firm does not offer free consultations, which means the time you spend with the attorney is a real legal analysis of your case, not a sales pitch.

A typical uncontested guardianship in Florida often takes a few weeks to a couple of months from filing to the appointment of a guardian. The timeline depends on the court's schedule, how fast the examining committee completes its evaluations, and whether anyone contests the case.

Emergency situations move much faster because the court can appoint a temporary guardian quickly when there is immediate danger. Contested cases run longer, since disputes add hearings, evidence, and time. Attorney McBride works to keep your case moving and to avoid the delays that come from filings the court sends back.

In most Florida guardianship cases, yes. Florida law generally requires the petitioner to be represented by an attorney because guardianship removes a person's legal rights, and the court holds the process to a high standard. This is not a form you simply file and forget.

Beyond the legal requirement, a guardianship attorney protects you from costly mistakes. The petitions, the deadlines, the reporting, and the hearings all follow strict rules. Having an attorney who handles these cases means the process gets done right the first time, which protects both you and the person who needs help.

Yes. A guardianship is not necessarily permanent. If the protected person regains capacity, the court can restore their rights and end the guardianship. If a guardian is not doing the job properly, the court can remove and replace them. And if circumstances change, the scope of a guardianship can be adjusted.

Ending or changing a guardianship requires going back to the court with evidence that supports the change. A guardianship attorney handles that process, whether you are seeking to restore someone's rights, modify the arrangement, or step in to fix a guardianship that has gone wrong.