Guardianship proceedings begin when a person applies for guardianship to the District Court or the Juvenile Court of the district where the protected person lives. The application must indicate the reason why guardianship is necessary and also mention the parties involved, including the name and address of the protected person and the proposed guardian(s). The protected person is then notified and a guardian or lawyer is appointed to represent the interests of the protected person. The Court then holds a hearing on the case. File 610 modifies the procedure for opening guardianship. Before a guardian can be appointed, the following steps must be taken: Have you considered taking custody of an adult or minor in Iowa, but don`t know where to start? In this article, we`ll discuss everything there is to know about guardianship in Iowa, including: Sometimes parents are unable to care for their children. Parents may be dead, ill or absent. Often, grandparents, aunts, uncles and others help. Sometimes surrogate parents may have difficulty enrolling children in school. The school can tell surrogate parents that they must get “guardianship” over the children. Read more In the 2019 legislature, the Iowa legislature unanimously passed House File 610, which changes the way trusteeships and conservatories are established and maintained in Iowa. The objective of the new law is to improve the protection of persons who are under guardianship or who do not have decision-making capacity, as the appointment of a guardian for an adult means that they are deprived of some of their fundamental rights and freedoms.
Here are a few things you should know about the new law if you are a guardian or someone who has a guardian. The Office of the Public Guardian is appointed by the court as guardian or trustee of last resort only if there is no one who could serve as tutor or curator and the person`s needs cannot be met by less restrictive alternatives to tutorship or assistance. This information does not constitute legal advice. Individuals should consult a lawyer for advice on their specific situation before proceeding. Under the old Act, the courts could set the period for declaring guardianship at three or five years or, in some cases, waive the declaration requirement altogether. This has led to a lack of reliable records of actions taken by the guardian on behalf of the protected person, which can be a problem if there were questions about guardianship. The new law requires annual reports on each guardianship, so deviations or extended reporting deadlines are no longer allowed. Existing guardians must now file annual reports, but it is not clear whether those who previously had a waiver should file before the end of the year or simply start with their next scheduled report. A guardian in this situation may call the clerk of the district court of his guardianship and ask how the court wants him to proceed.
As with the primary care plan, the Supreme Court also released an annual report form. House File 610 also changes the way guardianship is implemented. Some of these changes are as follows: You can complete an application for public guardianship by visiting the link below. Planning ahead for care, such as making a living will or creating a permanent power of attorney, can help ensure your wishes are taken into account and avoid the possibility of family members disagreeing on medical decisions on your behalf. For Iowan residents unable to make their own legal, financial, or health decisions, the Office of the Public Guardian (formerly known as the Office of the Special Attorney) is working to fill this gap. It can be very difficult to decide whether a guardianship or a conservatory is necessary. Here are a few things to keep in mind. Iowa prefers to limit the powers of a guardian to those that are absolutely necessary for the benefit of the protected person. In the case of a minor, the powers conferred on a guardian are largely the same as those of a parent. In the case of adult guardianship, there is a wide range of powers that can be delegated to the designated guardian.
Limited guardianship limits the powers of the guardian to acts expressly specified in the guardianship order. On the other hand, general or full guardianship gives the guardian almost total control over his affairs. File 610 contains many important amendments aimed at better protecting persons under guardianship. If you are acting as a guardian for someone else, or if you or someone you know needs guardianship, you should consult a lawyer to ensure that these new requirements are met. To terminate guardianship prematurely, it is necessary to file an application for termination of guardianship with the court where guardianship was originally granted. If the guardians do not voluntarily waive their rights as guardians, the court will hold a hearing to determine whether guardianship is still necessary. For more information, see How to End Guardianship of a Minor and Regain Parental Rights in Iowa. In the case of temporary guardianships granted due to an emergency, they automatically end after 30 days and do not require a request for termination. The new law aims to get guardians to think in detail about what they want to do for the protected person and to develop a plan. This means that guardians must provide the court with an initial care plan detailing how they use their decision-making power and what their plan is for the protected person. In response to some confusion as to how existing guardianships would be affected, the Supreme Court issued an order stating: “Guardians …
also have the right to perform acts in respect of the protected person that were taken before 1. January 2020 until the date of the annual report previously scheduled by the tutor. The Supreme Court also provided a form for the primary care plan, which is mandatory for guardians who file reports without a lawyer. Guardians currently serving should submit this initial care plan with their next annual report. The old law drew a distinction between “voluntary” guardianships, where a person could agree that they needed a guardian without a hearing, and “involuntary” guardianships, where someone else transferred guardianship through a hearing. This meant that vulnerable people could be forced to consent to guardianship and lose their rights without being heard. Now, all new guardianships require a hearing and the reasons why guardianship is necessary. A person can still ask the court for a guardian, but a hearing must be held before a person is appointed. For persons who already have voluntary guardianships established before the changes in the law, their guardianship will be maintained but may be subject to additional requirements.
Unlike guardianship, adoption terminates the rights of biological parents. The adoptive parents then have sole custody of the child. Adoption is also permanent and biological parents will not be able to recover their rights in the future. Consequently, the biological parents are permanently released from the obligation to provide for the financial needs of the child. For more information about the adoption process in Iowa, see The Iowa Adoption Process Explained (oflaherty-law.com). For more information on the types of court-appointed guardianships in Iowa, see our article Iowa Court-appointed guardians| Iowa Guardianship explains (oflaherty-law.com). For more information specific to adult guardianship in Iowa, see How to Apply for Guardianship for an Adult with a Disability in Iowa. Guardianship deprives a protected person of any decision-making power. Therefore, they are very restrictive. They are also expensive because they require hearing dates and orders. For this reason, the law requires the court to consider the “least restrictive solution” or alternative that allows the protected person to remain as independent as possible before approving guardianship. An example of the least restrictive method of helping an adult with a disability make decisions is a permanent power of attorney.