What is a Professional Guardian? Why would you use a Professional Guardian?

A guardian is a person who has the authority to care for another person and/or the person's estate (guardian of person or guardian of estate or both). Guardianship is granted by the courts. In Franklin county this is the probate court. The National Guardianship Association noted that "three major groups of people often come under the authority of a guardianship. These groups include older adults with decisional disabilities, persons who have a developmental disability, and those who are mentally ill. Others who may also require the intervention of guardianship in their lives are people who have a head injury, or a physical challenge that causes the individual to be unable to make or communicate reasonable decisions". 

Alternatives to guardianship include: Power of Attorney, living wills, trusts, case management services, or representative payee. 

Many times family members are awarded guardianship to care for their loved ones. So, you may ask WHAT IS A PROFESSIONAL GUARDIAN and WHY WOULD ANYONE USE A PROFESSIONAL GUARDIAN  ? 

Lets start off by answering the question of what a professional guardian is. A professional guardian is someone who is not a family or friend who has the duty to care for another person or their estate. Through the Center for Guardianship Certification, professional guardians can be Nationally Certified (Nationally Certified Guardian, NCG). What this means is the person has worked for at least one year in a guardianship role, has studied and passed an exam on the standards, process, and ethics of guardianship and has passed a background check. 

Why would anyone use a professional guardian?

A professional guardian can be used for many different reasons. Some reasons include: 

• The person has no family or friends
• The family or friends live at a distance
• The family or friends want to continue being the family and friends and not take on the "guardianship role". This is an important reason and one many don't think of. When you love your family member and want to continue being the child, niece, brother or sister, parent, the ward can have a professional and knowledgeable guardian and the family member can just be the family and not have the difficult role of making major decisions for that person which can be very difficult. Think of your parent incapacitated in a nursing home. Wouldn't you like someone checking in on them and making informed decisions, so when you visit as a child, you can still be their child and not the guardian which can also preserve the parents dignity. 
• An aging parent is worried about who will care for their disabled child if something should happen to them. IKOR can assess and document the needs of the person before there is an emergency, so the parent or current guardian can have peace of mind that the person can be well cared for and have a plan in place shall something happen to them. 

If the family or friend wants to be the guardian but does not have the time, expertise, or live near enough to make the day to day decisions another option is to use an agent to guardian. This means another person can be the guardian, but the professional guardian is acting as the eyes and ears and using their experience and expertise to help the guardian make the best decisions for the person. IKOR of Greater Columbus has knowledgeable, experienced RNs on staff to help enrich the lives of wards and support family in this role.