Pennsylvania law provides that when an individual is incapacitated, a Guardian of the Person or Guardian of the Estate may be appointed for the individual. The appointed Guardian then has the authority to act on behalf of the incapacitated person and the incapacitated person can no longer act on their own, unless there has been a Limited Guardian appointed. A Limited Guardian controls certain specified matters relative to the incapacitated person while the incapacitated person retains the right to do certain specific things on their own. As an example, an incapacitated person may be given a certain amount of money to manage, essentially a monthly allowance, independent of the actions of the Guardian while the Guardian manages the remainder of the incapacitated person’s funds. Because the Guardianship of an incapacitated person involves a Court proceeding and on-going monitoring by the Court, it is frequently better to create a Power of Attorney as part of an estate plan before the individual becomes incapacitated, to handle the affairs, rather than resorting to a Guardianship action.
In order to understand what is best utilized in specific circumstances, a consultation with the attorneys at Gentile Horoho & Avalli, P.C. would be able to clarify any questions and provide advice on how best to proceed.
