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[Music]
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so in georgia we
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um we have a process for a guardianship
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and then we have a separate process for
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a conservator
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several years back we split those roles
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so we have
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in georgia the guardian who takes care
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of the person
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so they make decisions about health care
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and living arrangements and things like
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that
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and then we have the conservator and the
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conservator deals with the financial
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issues so they make decisions about
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the budget and investments and that sort
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of thing
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it can be the same person it can be
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handled through the same process
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roughly the way the process works is
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that we prepare a petition that spells
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out
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this proposed ward is what the adults
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call the incapacitated adult
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we prepare a petition that says to the
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court this person lacks the capacity to
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make significant responsible decisions
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for themselves
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the court reviews that petition after
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it’s filed and determines if they think
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that
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there is probable cause to find that the
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ward needs to have a guardian appointed
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the proposed ward
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if the court determines that there is
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probable cause then they appoint an
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evaluator
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that’s usually a licensed clinical
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psychologist
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who then evaluates the proposed ward
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that being the
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incompetent adult to determine if in
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their opinion
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this person is incapable of making
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decisions
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uh significant responsible decisions
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regarding their health and welfare or
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their finances
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that evaluator makes a report to the
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court after the court
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reviews that if they still think that
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there’s probable cause
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for a guardian or conservative be
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appointed then they will
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they will uh schedule a hearing and at
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that hearing
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the ward is represented by their own
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attorney that’s appointed by the court
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and then typically we’re representing
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the petitioner the person
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asking for the guardianship or
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conservatorship and
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most of the time the ward is not going
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to
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oppose the appointment of a guardian or
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conservator and so most of the time
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they’re not
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even going to appear at that hearing and
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so what we do is we go into that hearing
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and we just establish for the judge that
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there’s
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evidence there on the record and then he
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appoints that person as the guardian or
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conservator
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now if there is opposition so if the
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ward’s opposed to the idea then there’s
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a full hearing
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evidence is presented to the judge and
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the judge makes a determination about
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whether a guardian needs to be appointed
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or not
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and who the appropriate person to serve
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in that role is
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you