1. Guardianship and Estate PlanningGuardianship and Estate Planning
for the Beneficiary with Disabilitiesfor the Beneficiary with Disabilities
David Paul Pollan, ESQ.

2. Guardianship and Estate Planning forGuardianship and Estate Planning for
the Beneficiary with Disabilitiesthe Beneficiary with Disabilities
A. Guardianship for The Beneficiary with Disabilities
1. What is Guardianship?
a) Liberty Interests
b) Rights
2. An Alternative to Guardianship – What is a Power
of Attorney?
a) The different Types of Powers of Attorney
b) When Guardianship is Recommended
A. Estate Planning for The Beneficiary with Disabilities

3. What is Guardianship?
Guardianship is the legal proceeding for the appointment of a
legal representative to someone who either lacks decision
making capacity or is simply unable to communicate their
decisions because of mental or physical impairment.
Guardianship removes the disabled person’s rights or
“liberty interests”

4. Liberty interests which are usually removed from the disabled
person by the court, include:
 The right to contract marriage
 The power to enter into contracts
 The power to consent or refuse medical treatment
 The power to decide where to live
 Management of monies and property.

5. The disabled person always maintains the following rights:
 Right to a guardian who will act in his or her best interests and
whose affairs do not create a conflict of interest
 Right to a guardian who is reasonably accessible to him or to
her
 Right to have his or her property used to provide for his or her
support, care, education, and well being
 Right to communicate freely and privately with others.

6. When Is Guardianship is Recommended?
There is no alternative to Guardianship when:
 The disabled individual lacks capacity to execute power of
attorney
 An inheritance (or life insurance benefits) has been left and the
disabled individual is neither competent to manage this
inheritance nor to execute a power of attorney authorizing
someone to manage this inheritance for him.
 There is a dispute between the parents as to medical decision
making.

7. An Alternative to Guardianship
What is a Power of Attorney?
A power of attorney is a way that a person can give another
person authority to act on their behalf. Power of attorney is
usually a written document that specifies what authority is
being granted.
It can include broad grants of authority to make any type of
healthcare and/or financial decision necessary.

8. The different types of Powers of Attorney
 A healthcare power of attorney can include authority to make decisions
concerning matters such as the admission, transfer or discharge of the
person from a healthcare facility such as a nursing home, assisted living
facility, or hospital, consent to medical care and treatment, refusal of
medical treatment, and can also include authority to order the withdrawal
or withholding of life support and death-delaying treatment even though
death may ensue.
 A financial power of attorney also grants authority but only with regard to
monies and property. Some typical examples of the types of authority
frequently conveyed include bill paying, banking transactions, purchasing
or selling real estate, and investment transactions. The level of capacity or
“competency” necessary to execute a power of attorney is determined by
applicable state law.

9. Website: www.pollanlawfirm.com
Ph: 678.510.1358
Find the Pollan Law Firm on
Follow The Pollan Law Firm on
David Paul Pollan has been practicing exclusively in the area of
elder law and special needs issues affecting the younger disabled
community since 1990. He is a member of the National Academy
of Elder Law Attorneys and has served the elder and disabled
communities through his work with AARP, Atlanta Regional
Committee Aging Services Board, the Senior Citizens' Law
Project, the Elder Law Committee of the State Bar of Georgia, the
Georgia Community Trust and Weinstein Hospice. He is also a
member of the Georgia ElderCare Network, a statewide alliance of
professionals assisting Georgia families to plan and deal with the
issues of aging. David P. Pollan has worked in the field of elder
law for 20 years. He is AV®-rated* under Martindale-Hubbell’s
peer review rating system, and frequently publishes and lectures
on elder law and special needs law issues.
1801 Peachtree St.
Suite 150
Atlanta, GA 30309

10. Website: www.pollanlawfirm.com
Ph: 678.510.1358
Find the Pollan Law Firm on
Follow The Pollan Law Firm on
David Paul Pollan has been practicing exclusively in the area of
elder law and special needs issues affecting the younger disabled
community since 1990. He is a member of the National Academy
of Elder Law Attorneys and has served the elder and disabled
communities through his work with AARP, Atlanta Regional
Committee Aging Services Board, the Senior Citizens' Law
Project, the Elder Law Committee of the State Bar of Georgia, the
Georgia Community Trust and Weinstein Hospice. He is also a
member of the Georgia ElderCare Network, a statewide alliance of
professionals assisting Georgia families to plan and deal with the
issues of aging. David P. Pollan has worked in the field of elder
law for 20 years. He is AV®-rated* under Martindale-Hubbell’s
peer review rating system, and frequently publishes and lectures
on elder law and special needs law issues.
1801 Peachtree St.
Suite 150
Atlanta, GA 30309