The Fundamentals of Guardianship: What Every Guardian Should Know

Sally Balch Hurme, J.D., is currently a project advisor with the AARP Health Law Education team. In her more than 20 years at AARP, she has advocated on a wide range of issues, including consumer fraud, financial exploitation, elder abuse, surrogate decision making, advance care planning, predatory mortgage lending, health care fraud, and fi nancial security. She is well recognized as an elder law advocate who is quoted frequently in national media, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNN.com, Money, Kiplinger's Retirement Report, NPR, and AARP The Magazine. Although she has written more than 20 law review articles on elder law topics, Hurme has focused her professional career on explaining the law so that everyone can understand it. She has lectured in Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Great Britain, and Moldova on elder abuse and surrogate decision making. She is also in demand as a speaker, having given more than 100 presentations on elder law topics in at least 40 states. She is author of "Get the Most Out of Retirement: Checklist for Happiness, Health, Purpose and Financial Security, and ABA/AARP Checklist for Family Survivors" and the "ABA/AARP Checklist for Family Heirs.

Introduction vi Purpose vi Standards and Ethics vi Certification vii Glossary vii Acknowledgments viii Chapter 1: Guardianship and Its Alternatives 1 Chapter 2: The Guardianship Process 7 Chapter 3: Rights of Individuals Under Guardianship 15 Chapter 4: Roles of the Guardian 18 Chapter 5: Fiduciary Principles 25 Chapter 6: Guardian of the Person 28 Chapter 7: Abuse and Neglect 43 Chapter 8: Guardian of the Estate 49 Chapter 9: Guardianship Modification 56 Resource Materials 61 *National Guardianship Association Resources 62*Initial New Guardianship Checklist 63*Functional Assessment for Guardianship Determination 68*Visitation in a Supported Environment Checklist 74*Medication Approval Checklist 81*Psychotropic Medication Approval Checklist 83*Treatment Approval Checklist 85*Marshal Estate Checklist 88*Budget Worksheet 89*Banking Institution Asset Inquiry Form 96*Inventory of Safe Deposit Box Form 98*Emergency Preparedness Checklist 101*Guardian's Personal Safety Checklist 104 Appendix A: National Guardianship Association Ethical Principles 109 Appendix B: National Guardianship Association Standards of Practice 110 Appendix C: National Guardianship Association Standards of Practice Checklist 137 Glossary 154 Websites 160