Who Needs A Special Needs Trust? Rudy was diagnosed with downs syndrome at birth. His parents want to leave him some money when they die but they don’t want to jeopardize his public benefits. Margaret, fifty-four, is schizophrenic and receives…
Mental capacity in its most generic sense refers to the set of mental skills that most people use in their everyday lives—skills such as memory, logic, the ability to calculate, and spatial abilities. The concept of mental capacity is especially…
I. Introduction It is unknown how many people are under a guardianship in Texas. What is known is that the number of people going into a guardianship is growing as our population ages and more and more people need the…
Guardianship Basics Age, disease or accident may rob a person of the ability to care for one’s own personal or financial needs. Texas law prescribes a method by which a guardian can manage that person’s affairs under the supervision of…
What is Capacity? Capacity is the uncomfortable marriage of legal and medical concepts. Medically, doctors and psychologists consider capacity when discussing diseases like Dementia, Alzheimer’s and strokes. The legal world discusses capacity when an attorney evaluates a client’s ability to…
If you would like a traditional legal paper on Guardianships, stop reading now. Go to the resource section where I have listed papers I have found helpful. This paper is meant to be a practical, common sense paper on Guardianships….
By K.T. Whitehead as presented at the Texas State Bar Elder Law Seminar, Spring 2004, copyright, K.T. Whitehead, 2004 Advocacy Tip Page Advocacy Tip: Educate clients about licensing levels in assisted living. Help them develop a set of questions to…
Guardianship Case Law Update, By K.T. Whitehead, as presented at the Texas State Bar Seminar, Spring 2003, copyright, K.T. Whitehead, 2003 Introduction There are very few published guardianship decisions. Several factors may contribute to the lack of case law….
