Guardianship Issues

I was recently contacted by a new guardian asking about how [what forms to use] to "convert" individual guardianships into an agency. I've learned through the years what I can and cannot give advice on and this is a question that needs to be addressed to an attorney familiar with guardianships. However, I did tell the inquirer how we, as a guardianship agency in a rural community, entitle the Orders of Guardianship and the Letters of Guardianship for our agency.

I have a contract with the second guardian in the agency [me being the first] that states that all guardianships are agency guardianships unless otherwise defined in writing. The second guardian is not a partner in the business but she is an employee and, while I think that I would chain her to her chair to hold her hostage if she decided to leave, she has the option to leave at anytime. Having this defined from the beginning avoids a lot of hard feelings at the end.


The following are some problem areas that we have run into:

1. It is ALWAYS best practices to have legal representation in Court. Some Counties require it. Finding an attorney willing to take the fee rates that DSHS will pay can be a challenge, especially being new in the business and not having been appointed to a private pay guardianship yet. Once you have some private pay guardianships the attorneys representing you for those may be willing to represent you on the Medicaid guardianships as well. Typically, Medicaid guardianships don't need a lot of representation unless there is a unique problem. The guardian just files the paperwork on time and the Court will only contact the guardian if there seems to be a problem. Network with other certified professional guardians in your County to learn how to address this problem. Each County is different.
2. It is a problem when one is building a new business and only has Medicaid guardianships, which is how most of us start out, and there is no money for attorneys. What I did was find a semi-retired attorney willing to review my work and give me pointers. As soon as possible, though, I started having legal representation. To be honest, trying to navigate the Court procedures when not being familiar with them is nerve-racking.
3. Unless you are a Representative Payee Organization approved by Social Security [and you can only be a Representative Payee Organization if you are non-profit], they want the name of an individual on the Order of Guardianship and the Letters of Guardianship. You may have some difficulty getting "chosen" as your client's Representative Payee otherwise. Therefore, we request that the primary guardian appointed as well as the agency name are put on the Orders and Letters of Guardianship. I have learned that the way Social Security handles applications for Representative Payee are somewhat different in each County. In my County, they require the primary care physician's name, address and phone number even though it isn't requested on the application. I've heard that other Social Security offices don't require this.

We are happy to answer questions when new guardians call. The business of all aspects guardianship is very challenging. From what I hear from those who have been guardians longer than me is that guardianships are so "multi-layered" that each new guardianship offers something new to learn.