Guest guest Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Lor - Wills can be changed. Decide based on today and through their 25th birthday or so. You will likely need to revisit your plans then anyway.We set up wills when the boys were very young (11 nad 9) because I wanted ot set up a trust for Andy - the royalties from my Nutrition Book go directly in to that trust. (it' snot much, but it's more than nothing!). We did not need to make the decision about guardianship then. We only needed to decide who would be their legal guardian if we both died until they were of legal age. And if htat happens, you can't tell the legal guardian how to handle guardianship in your will (though you can leave information for them). YOu only need ot make that decision at 18+. There's no need to decide now. things have changed a lot. Most Attys err on the side of over protection. We have the most limited trust possible for Andy for that reason (it cannot pay for any basic needs). The trust will receive our house if we die, etc, and andy can rent the room from the trust. With guardianship, there are many layers and the decision should be made individually. There is guardianship, there is fiscal guardianship, there is a POA, etc. Given today's various program,s I would say that it's best to err on the side of hte least limiting. but you'll know when the time comes how to choose for your child. AGain, there's no need to decide this until they are 18. and there are many laws and such that can change in the interim. Joan Joan Guthrie Medlen, MEd, RD DownSyndromeNutrition.com twitter: @jmedlen Create Your Family's Vision of Health for 2012 Saturday, January 14 @10am PT  Hi All: Back when I worked with adults with intellectual disabilities we tried very hard to support individuals who retained guardianship over themselves - meaning, they had no guardian. Did they meet the criteria? Only with support - by being involved in our programs they did not need a guardian. I always thought this was the preferred way of doing things. My DH and I met with the attorney to do wills today - a person who is both an attorney and a social worker and she believes that ALL people with an intellectual disability need a guardian though some might only need a guardian over financial matters. Can any of you send me to a good website or article to read up on this? One of the things my husband and I both agree on is that when you have a 13 year old and a 15 year old it is really hard to plan because we don't really know what they will be like at 18 or 26 or 30. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks, Lori Mom to Isaac 15 and Tony 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Janet: Just found your email - they are definitely not coming in the order written. Thank you for your story. I do believe there are differences in each state that make guardianship a more or less attractive option. I think what surprised me about our attorney (using because she did the wills for my in-laws who have since both passed and is a social worker) is that even with my oldest who has an IQ of about 70 she was adamant he have guardianship and I was thinking that he deserved at least a more cautious reflective approach. Good to hear all voices! Thanks, Lori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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