so in new jersey you have to file a
complaint to be appointed as the
guardian of an incapacitated person so
usually what happens is there’s a
situation where there’s an individual
that perhaps you’re caring for or your
family member too who has been
determined by a medical professional to
be incapacitated so that means that
they’re unable to govern their own
affairs in one or
many different categories such as the
ability to govern their own finances
make medical decisions for themselves or
educational decisions so what happens is
you file a complaint and you can either
file a loan or with co guardians and the
complaint basically outlines the
circumstances of the case if there’s any
assets held by the alleged incapacitated
individual
and other information that’s important
to the court so after that’s filed
everyone who is an interested party
would be noticed so for example i often
do cases for parents who have adult
disabled children and in that
circumstance the parents would provide
adequate notice to siblings who might be
interested in being involved in the
process
the complaint includes the relevant
information
along with
typically two certifications from two
different doctors who opine that the
individual is incapacitated or sometimes
only partially incapacitated
after that the court reviews everything
and depending upon the case because
every case is very fact sensitive an
attorney might be appointed for the
incapacitated individual a temporary
guardian might be appointed
and the process will continue with the
court ultimately there would be a
hearing to determine again whether a
full guardian should be put into place
or sometimes it’s appropriate for just a
partial guardian and then the matter is
complete