Generally speaking there are two kinds of guardianship cases. Guardianships for "incapacitated" adults and guardians for children when parents consent or are determined to be "affirmative unfit" to be a custodial parent.

Court ordered guardianships for adults are rare. However, court ordered guardianships for children occur frequently. Grandparent guardians or relative guardianship generally occurs when parents are not behaving as responsible parents.

Guardianships can be litigated for grandparents or other relatives due to parents use of drugs, criminal acts and/or child abuse/neglect. While it is true that potential guardians may choose to file their own court papers, our firm DOES NOT recommend filing your own guardianship case if the parents object to the appointment of a guardian.

In both adult and children guardianships the petitioner must be "qualified" to serve as a guardian and must comply with court orders regarding the management of the person as well as his/her property/income/debt.