3 Reasons To Establish Guardianship and Conservatorship for Children of Severely Injured Parents

If a child's parents get severely injured in a car accident or through some other form of injury, then they may not have the capability to properly take care of the child. As a relative or loved one, you may step in to care for the child while a parent goes through a healing process or has to adjust to this new stage in their life.

While helping out the child may be one step, you can take things a step further if you decide to establish guardianship for the child. Every situation is different, but you may come across some key reasons to establish guardianship and help support the child if the parents are physically and mentally unable to do so.

Check out some reasons to establish guardianship and how they can benefit the child in the long run.

1. Medical Decisions and Legal Documents

While you may be able to take a child to doctor's appointments, you cannot make any major medical decisions for a child without established guardianship. If the child's parents do not have the mental or physical capabilities to make proper medical decisions, then a guardian can make them for them.

If you were close to the family, then you would know what decisions to make and go along with their ideals. Without proper guardianship, a child's medical decisions would go to the state and may not be in the interest of the parent.

2. School Registration and Place of Residence

As a guardian, you may decide to have the child live with you while a parent recovers or goes through treatment. If you live in a different school district, then you may choose to send the child to the new school. Without guardianship, you will not have the legal rights to establish a new place of residence for the child and have them transfer schools.

Even if the child stays in the same home, you would need guardianship to help make decisions as they grow older. For example, as a child transitions from middle school to high school, they may have to apply to get into a specific high school. With guardianship, you can sign off on their high school selection and help a child attend the school that they seek.

3. Financial Decisions and Protection

With a conservatorship, you will have the opportunity to make financial decisions for a child. You may get access to specific bank accounts or trusts set up for the child. Instead of allowing family members access to the money, you can remain in protection of their future assets and accounts.

Money and assets can come in many forms, and your legal assignment as a conservator can make a big difference in the financial protection of the child. Even if you don't remain their guardian until they turn 18, you can set up accounts and trusts to help them financially for the long term.

If a parent's health takes a turn for the worse, then your establishment as a conservator will help you handle any insurance payouts, inheritance, or other money issues. For example, you could manage the home or property the parents owned if all of those assets were passed down to the child.

Without a guardianship and conservatorship, all of the little details could become a big mess and create a lot of stress and delays through the court system.

Guardianships and conservatorships can be independent of each other or established at the same time for the person or persons.

As you establish the guardianship and conservatorship, seek our legal services at Hart Law Offices, P.C. We will help you establish guardianship and conservatorship to ensure that you can make legal decisions for a child during a tough situation. We have multiple years of experience and will provide you with answers to any questions you have about the process.