Experienced Advocacy In Minnesota Guardianship And Conservatorship Law

Guardianships and conservatorships are meant to help you protect children, parents or other relatives. They can even help you protect yourself if you lack the capacity to manage your own affairs. Setting up one of these legal structures also helps you protect the person or the person’s assets while giving the guardian or conservator legal authority to make decisions.

If you have a child, a parent or an elderly relative who can no longer manage his or her affairs, we can help establish you or another person as the guardian or conservator. If you are doing advance planning for your own disability, we will help you properly nominate the people you want the court to appoint as a guardian or conservator. Our careful analysis of your unique situation will help to determine the appropriate vehicle for you or your loved one.

We Represent Wards, Guardians And Conservators

At Tarrant & Liska, P.L.L.C., we handle both contested and uncontested guardianship/conservatorship proceedings, representing wards, guardians, conservators and other people concerned with the welfare of the ward. We will also help the guardian or conservator prepare any reports that must be filed, including the well-being report (guardianship) and the annual accounting of assets (conservatorship) that must be submitted to the court.

Attorney Melanie Liska is one of a select number of Minnesota attorneys appointed by the probate courts in Hennepin County and Ramsey County to represent wards in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings.

Choosing Conservatorship Or Guardianship: What Is Right For You?

We will accurately assess your unique situation. Depending on the situation, it may be possible to use a power of attorney or a health care directive instead of the guardianship or conservatorship process. You might also need to consider special and supplemental needs trusts to ensure that your loved one is not disqualified from receiving public benefits such as income, medical assistance and housing assistance.

A guardianship allows the designated legal guardian to make important life decisions in the best interests of you or your loved one.

• If your loved one is an adult, a guardianship is necessary to allow someone to legally consent to medical care and to make living arrangements.
• If you are a parent who wants to name someone who would take care of your children if both you and your parenting partner are unable to care for yourselves, you will want to name a guardian for them in your will or in a similar document.
• If you are doing advance contingency planning for yourself, we can help you legally name who you want as guardian.

A conservatorship allows the court-appointed legal conservator to manage important financial decisions on behalf of a child, yourself, a parent or another relative who can no longer manage his or her financial affairs.

If you do not designate a guardian or conservator for yourself or a child, the court might designate one for you based on a statute listing people with priority for appointment.

We can help you petition the court to have a guardian or conservator of choice appointed. It is important to make these decisions before the court is forced to.

Our lawyers also advise clients regarding other elder law issues that may arise, such as medical assistance planning and the prepayment of funeral expenses.

Representative Case:

• In Re Conservatorship/Guardianship of Karla Iwen, CX-02-1777, 2003 WL 21007240, (Minn. App., May 6, 2003) (Trial Attorney only)