Beware the Contested Guardianship!

Guardianship proceedings exist to create protection for people who are no longer capable of making decisions for themselves. Often, a relative, such as an adult child, will bring a guardian petition when the mental abilities of an elderly person has started to deteriorate. Sometimes, a guardian petition is brought by a concerned family member to protect the elderly person from the exploitation of another.

In my experience, most guardianship petitions are uncontested and well-intentioned. But sometimes, a guardianship petition becomes just another phase in a bigger dispute among adult children. Far too often, disputes between adult siblings get heated because there is a belief that mom has money.

A contested guardianship case can become a problem quickly. In Virginia, if a guardianship petition is successful, and the elderly person's estate has the funds, all of the costs, including lawyers' fees, are paid from the elderly person's estate. If the adult children cannot agree on what is best for the elderly parent, and litigation ensues, this means that money that should be used for mom's care winds up getting eaten away by lawyers' fees.

Morally, adult children should give serious thought to just how hard they want to fight in a contested guardianship case. In fighting to control what happens to mom and her assets, the children could wind up throwing her money away.