shlep: the Self-Help Law ExPress

My local paper, the Seattle Times has been investigating courts’ practices in sealing records in a series called “Your Courts, Their Secrets.” The latest focus of investigation is the guardianship system. Articles this week have discussed some horribly frustrating interactions when family members (often unrepresented) have tried to monitor the care professional guardians are providing their disabled loved ones. (See my post on Trial Ad Notes.)

That led me to look for some more information about guardianship (of adults, not children)…

• PRACTICAL INFORMATION
• The National Guardianship Association serves both professional guardians and family guardians. Its website includes basic information (What Is Guardianship?) as well as offering publications, a calendar of events, and links to other resources.
• Since guardianship laws and procedures vary from state to state, it is important to check your own jurisdiction. My searching indicates that there are materials for many localities (for instance, individual superior courts in California have guardianship materials). Here in my own state, washingtonlawhelp.org links to:
• Alternatives to Guardianships for Adults (from Northwest Justice Project);
• Questions and Answers on Guardianship (from Columbia Legal Services); and
• What Can Go Wrong with Guardianship? (from Washington Protection & Advocacy System). (That led me to How to Modify or Remove a Guardianship, from the same group.)
• Judicial Determination of Capacity of Older Adults in Guardianship Proceedings outlines steps that judges should follow when evaluating someone who is allegedly incompetent to manage his or her affairs. It is a joint publication of the ABA Commission on Law and Aging, the American Psychological Association, and the National College of Probate Judges.
• STUDIES
• Last summer, AARP released a study: Guardianship Monitoring: A National Survey of Court Practices, by Naomi Karp (AARP Public Policy Institute) and Erica Wood (ABA Commission on Law and Aging). Practices vary from state to state. Most states require guardians to file annual reports — but there aren’t systems in place to verify the accuracy of the reports. AARP’s press release (July 6, 2006) is here.
• Data about guardianships is hard to come by. One report outlines the issues: State-Level Adult Guardianship Data: An Exploratory Survey, by Erica F. Wood (ABA Commission on Law and Aging) for the National Center on Elder Abuse (Aug. 2006).
• One issue facing wards (people under guardianship) is the right to vote. See Henry G. Watkins, The Right to Vote of Persons Under Guardianship — Limited and Otherwise (Arizona Center for Disability Law, Oct. 11, 2006).
• Wards of the State: A National Study of Public Guardianship (funded by a grant from Retirement Research Foundation, April 2005). Also available on the ABA site.
• Bibliography: Guardianship and Other Legal Protections of Vulnerable Adults (Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly, Oct. 17, 2005).