Preserving Rights While Providing Protection for Vulnerable Clients: Three Useful Legal Tools and Alternatives

Program Description: Attorneys who work with vulnerable populations such as the I/DD or elderly community may only believe or know about (plenary) guardianships, which often seem like the only solution. However, there are several options attorneys may not know about, which may be more appropriate and would enable those individuals to maintain their autonomy and dignity, and all or most of their rights. In all this program, we will discuss three other “options” that attorneys should know about: Supported Decision-Making (SDM), the MHL Article 81.16(b) “One-Shot” provision, and Guardianship on Consent (MHL Article 81.02(a)(1). Some considerations include when the assumed incapacitated persons (AIPs) understood and were agreeable to (generally limited) guardianship, it can make a difference in how they experienced their changing circumstances and themselves (such as not having been found incapacitated by a court), as well as their relationship with a guardian who the individual has often chosen.