Baton Rouge Conservatorship Lawyer

Baton Rouge Conservatorship Attorney

It is not easy to navigate a situation where a loved one is unable to manage their own affairs or physical health. A mental or physical disability can prevent your family member from being able to care for themselves fully, and a conservatorship is one legal option to help you protect them and make crucial decisions on their behalf. A Baton Rouge conservatorship lawyer can help you review options and gather the information needed to petition for a conservatorship.

Your estate plan should address both your own needs and the needs of your loved ones, including those who are incapable of managing their own affairs. Whether you already have a conservatorship or need to establish one for a loved one, your estate plan should address the crucial responsibilities of the conservator and ensure your loved one is in good hands if you are unable to care for them.

Legal Support While Setting Up a Conservatorship

At the Shelby Law Firm, we understand how sensitive and stressful this situation can be. We help you review your options for conservatorships and guardianships with your loved one to determine the least invasive option for caring for their well-being. We can walk you through the process of petitioning for a conservatorship if it is what is necessary, and gather the crucial information needed to complete the petition.

The attorneys at the Shelby Law Firm have more than 30 years of experience supporting individuals and their families in complex estate planning issues, including dealing with powers of attorney, trusts, and other designations of legal power. We understand the complexities of conservatorships and can help you successfully navigate the process.

Understanding Conservatorships in Baton Rouge

A conservatorship is one form of guardianship or interdiction in Louisiana, which is created to place an individual or entity in charge of another person’s financial and legal affairs. Louisiana often refers to conservatorships as tutorships.

The person placed under the conservatorship, or the ward, must be determined by the court to be unable to independently manage their affairs because they are incapacitated or incapable due to disability. The person or entity put in charge of their affairs, or the conservator, is responsible for important decisions on behalf of the ward. This typically includes financial decisions like buying and selling assets, investing, paying bills, and other transactions.

Conservatorships remove significant rights and abilities from the ward. They are not appropriate for individuals who are legally competent adults, and the court would not impose a conservatorship on such an individual. They are generally applied to an individual with severe mental disabilities and impairments who are incapable of making important financial choices.

Estate Planning and Conservatorships

Conservatorships enable you to make decisions for your loved ones when they cannot. Incapacitation and legal incapability can, unfortunately, happen to anyone and become more common as you grow older.

An estate plan can help you take control over a time in your life you would not otherwise have control over. You can state if you wish to have a specific person or entity in charge of your conservatorship. You can also put other documents in place that remove the need for a conservatorship. This can include powers of attorney, both medical and financial, and a living will. You can also set up a trust for the management of your estate while you are incapacitated.

These estate planning documents put trusted individuals in charge of your affairs, with set powers that you state and outline. This can prevent you from having limited rights through a conservatorship appointed by the court. It can also limit the cost and time lost by your loved ones as they request the powers to make decisions for you after incapacitation.

FAQs

Q: How Can You Get Conservatorship in Louisiana?

A: You can secure a conservatorship in Louisiana by petitioning the court for the position. This petition and the following court proceeding will have to prove that the individual who would become the ward of the conservatorship is incapable and in need of the arrangement. It will also have to prove that the conservatorship would be in the proposed ward’s interests.

It may also be important to show why a less restrictive method of protection is not possible. An attorney can help review your options and gather evidence to create a petition for conservatorship.

Q: Why Are Conservatorships So Hard to End?

A: Conservatorships are hard to end because they are established by the court and must, therefore, be ended by the court. This process is much harder if one party does not want to end the conservatorship, which results in a contested court proceeding. Even when both parties agree to end the conservatorship, the court requires evidence that the individual can manage their own affairs and is no longer legally incapable. It is easier to end a conservatorship with an attorney.

Q: Is Conservatorship a Good Idea?

A: Whether a conservatorship is a good idea will depend on the unique circumstances that your family and loved ones are in. Placing someone under a conservatorship removes significant rights and abilities to manage their own life. It should be a last resort when there are no less-restrictive options for protecting your loved one.

Other options could include a power of attorney designation, the creation of a revocable trust, or the appointment of a guardian. This enables the individual to exercise their rights and abilities that they are able to do while giving them certain protections.

Q: What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Conservatorship?

A: There are several advantages and disadvantages of conservatorships. One disadvantage is that they can remove the rights and autonomy of an individual and make it incredibly difficult to regain those rights. One advantage is that conservatorships ensure complete protection for an individual and allow someone to be in charge of managing their finances and legal needs.

These pros and cons are each side of the same aspect of a conservatorship. The result can depend on the actual need of the ward for a conservatorship and the responsibility and respect of the person put in charge of the conservatorship.

Contact the Shelby Law Firm Conservatorship Attorneys Today

The team at Shelby Law Firm is prepared to help you protect your loved one’s interests and financial needs when they are unable to do so. Contact our attorneys today and get needed support during this delicate and difficult legal process.