Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: guardingships

The former grants powers over affairs of minors the latter over adults

Re: guardingships

A guardianship is a court directed process where an adult is appointed the manager (or guardian) of a minor child. The guardian then has legal reponsiblity for that child.

There is a similar procedure for dependent adults (i.e. seniors, incapacited, etc.) known as a conservatorship. Again, the court appoints a manager (the conservator) to be legally responsible for certain aspects of the incompentent's life. Such responsiblity can include total control over finances, ability to make health care decisions, etc.

Both guardianships and conservatorships are court supervised proceedings. They usually require regular accountings and obtaining permission from the court to take certain action (like borrow money).

A Power of Attorney is a legal agreement between two parties where one party (the principal) gives another party (called the agent or attorney-in-fact) certain powers to manage the principal's affairs. The power of attorney relationship is a private relationship where the agent can exercise as much power as given to him under the power of attorney agreement. Powers of attorney have a wide range of potential parameters including time, duties, responsiblities (i.e. financial or health care decisions), etc.

One critical requirement for a power of attorney is that the principal must have the capacity to contract. Thus neither children nor incompetent adults can give powers of attorney. In these instances, court intervention is required.

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