Working with Adult Protective Services Agencies, the Office of the State Guardian and Public Guardians

Learn about the interplay between trust agreements, powers of attorney, and guardianship, including about a guardian’s duties relative to a ward’s trust, reasons to establish a trust within a guardianship estate and how to do so in light of Howell and Rivera, the impact of the new Illinois Trust Code on a ward’s trust, and whether powers of attorney can be maintained alongside a guardianship estate and when and how they should be revoked.

Understand the various Medicaid planning tools available to guardians in administering a ward’s estate.

Most guardianships involve the appointment of a plenary guardian of the person, estate or both. However, there are various situations where the appointment of a limited guardian of the person, estate or both is most appropriate for the alleged person with a disability. In addition, some of the most highly contested guardianship cases involve an individual who presents well and exercises his or her right to contest the adjudication of disability, leaving an opportunity for the parties to resolve the case with a limited guardianship in order to avoid an expensive, and often personal, guardianship trial. Through various case hypotheticals, this presentation explores situations in which limited guardianship is appropriate and how practitioners can better tailor the powers and duties of limited guardians to the circumstances at hand.