Ocala Estate Planning Attorney and Guardianship Lawyer

Some families call us because they want a plan in place before anything goes wrong. Others call because something already has. A parent can't keep track of the bills anymore, or a son with a developmental disability is about to turn 18 and still needs help with medical decisions.

Dunham & Ingram, LLC handles both situations for families in Ocala and Marion County. You can decide now who would manage your affairs if you ever became incapacitated. And if a loved one can no longer take care of themselves, we can help you become their guardian.

The two are closely linked. Guardianship is the court's answer when an adult can't make decisions and no one has legal authority to act for them. Good planning documents give someone that authority ahead of time.

Call (352) 353-8117 or fill out an online consultation form to talk with an Ocala estate planning and guardianship lawyer about where your family stands.

When Should You Call an Estate Planning and Guardianship Lawyer in Ocala?

Ideally, before there's a crisis. You also don't need a large estate. These are the situations that bring people to us most often:

• You have minor children and haven't named anyone to raise them if something happens to you.
• A parent is showing signs of dementia and has never signed a power of attorney.
• A loved one was seriously hurt and can't make decisions or pay bills.
• Your child has a developmental disability and is about to turn 18.
• A minor child is about to receive an inheritance or an injury settlement.
• Your family disagrees about who should be in charge of a relative's care or money.
• You signed a will or other documents years ago and haven't looked at them since.

Chris Dunham, an Ocala native admitted to The Florida Bar in 2007, represents individuals and families in guardianship proceedings and estate planning matters. He helps clients understand their options and anticipate disputes before they start, then puts the right legal protections in place. The firm also helps with the Medicaid and Social Security questions that tend to come up alongside these cases.

What Does Estate Planning Include in Florida?

Estate planning in Florida means signing documents that say who takes over if you can't make your own decisions and who receives your property when you die. Parents also use it to name the person who would raise their children.

It isn't only for the wealthy. Parents of minor children need a plan, and so do blended families and anyone with a relative who depends on them.

A typical Florida plan is built from these documents:

• Will: says who receives your property and who serves as your personal representative (Florida's term for an executor). Without one, Florida's default inheritance rules decide who gets what. A will must be in writing, signed by you at the end, and witnessed by two people.
• Revocable living trust: holds your property under your own instructions, with a successor trustee who takes over if you become incapacitated or die. Many families use one to keep property passing outside of probate court. That only works for property actually transferred into the trust during your lifetime. In Florida, the parts of the trust that leave property to others at your death must be signed with the same formalities as a will.
• Durable power of attorney: names an agent you trust to handle your money and property if you can't. Florida requires two witnesses and a notary, and the power takes effect the day you sign. Sensitive powers, such as making gifts, only work if you initial or sign next to each one.
• Health care surrogate and living will: your surrogate makes medical decisions when you can't. A living will states your wishes about life-prolonging treatment if you have a terminal condition, an end-stage condition, or are in a persistent vegetative state. Each document needs two adult witnesses, and at least one can't be your spouse or a blood relative.
• Preneed guardian declaration: names the person you'd want as your guardian if a court ever has to appoint one. You sign it in front of two witnesses and can file it with the Marion County Clerk of Court. A filed declaration creates a presumption that your choice should serve.

Two Florida rules shape most plans. Property in your sole name generally has to go through probate, the court process for settling an estate, before it can pass to anyone. And if you leave behind a spouse or a minor child, Florida's constitution and statutes limit who can inherit your homestead, even one held in a revocable trust. That rule can undo a plan that looked fine on paper.

How Do I Name a Guardian for My Kids If Something Happens to Me?

Your will can name the person you want to raise your children. Florida also allows a preneed guardian declaration for minor children, which, unlike the adult version, must be filed with the clerk. Many parents do both.

If no one is named, a judge picks.

What's the Difference Between Guardianship and Power of Attorney in Florida?

A power of attorney is a document you sign yourself, while you're competent, giving someone authority to act for you. A guardianship is a court order, entered after a judge finds that a person lacks capacity, that gives someone authority over that person's affairs.

So a power of attorney is private and works the day you sign it. A guardianship is a full court case, and the guardian keeps reporting to the court every year afterward.

Timing is the catch. Once a loved one can no longer understand what they'd be signing, a power of attorney is usually off the table, and guardianship becomes the only route.

Can Estate Planning Documents Keep Your Family Out of Guardianship Court?

Often, yes. Florida law favors the least restrictive option. Under Florida Statutes section 744.331(6), a court can't appoint a guardian if an alternative will sufficiently address the person's needs. A valid durable power of attorney or trust can be that alternative, and so can a health care advance directive.

The protection isn't absolute. If someone petitions to declare you incapacitated, your agent's authority, except for health care decisions, is suspended while the case is pending, unless the court lets it continue. Agents who are your parent, spouse, child, or grandchild keep their authority unless a separate sworn motion is filed. Someone can also swear in good faith that your trust or power of attorney is invalid, and then the court won't count it as an alternative.

The fix isn't complicated: sign proper documents while your capacity isn't in question, and have them reviewed every few years.

What Is Guardianship in Florida, and When Is It Needed?

A guardianship is a court-supervised arrangement in which a judge appoints a guardian to make decisions for a person who can't manage some or all of their own affairs. That person is called the ward. In adults, common causes are dementia or a brain injury, though a severe mental illness or financial exploitation can lead there too. The Marion County Clerk notes that many local guardianships also involve minors who received an inheritance or an injury settlement.

Florida courts tailor the order. A plenary guardian exercises every right the court can transfer, while a limited guardian exercises only the rights listed in the order. A guardian of the person makes health care and living decisions; a guardian of the property manages money. Either way, the ward keeps every right the court doesn't specifically remove.

When there's imminent danger to a person's safety or property, the court can appoint an emergency temporary guardian once an incapacity petition is filed. That appointment lasts up to 90 days, with one possible 90-day extension.

How Do I Get Guardianship of My Elderly Parent in Ocala (Marion County)?

You file a petition in circuit court in the county where your parent lives. For an Ocala resident, that's the Marion County Judicial Center at 110 NW First Avenue, part of Florida's Fifth Judicial Circuit.

Your Marion County guardianship attorney will prepare the paperwork, which includes:

• Petition to determine incapacity: a sworn filing that explains why your loved one can't manage some or all of their affairs. Medical records showing a physical or mental disability help.
• Petition for appointment of guardian: asks the court to appoint a specific person and explains why less restrictive alternatives aren't enough.
• Application for appointment as guardian: the form each prospective guardian completes, listing their qualifications.

After filing, the case moves in steps:

1. Your parent is served with the petition and gets a court-appointed attorney, or can hire their own.
2. The court appoints a three-member examining committee that includes a physician. Each member examines your parents and reports to the court.
3. If a majority finds your parent isn't incapacitated in any respect, the case is dismissed. Otherwise, a hearing follows. Incapacity must be proved by clear and convincing evidence, a high standard that asks for more than "probably."
4. The judge's order lists which rights are removed. The proposed guardian passes a credit check and a fingerprint background check, then receives letters of guardianship, the court document that proves their authority.

If your parent can't safely wait, ask us about an emergency temporary guardian.

Who Can Be a Guardian in Florida?

Under Florida Statutes section 744.309, any Florida resident who is 18 or older and legally competent can serve as a guardian. A Florida resident doesn't need to be related to the ward.

Out-of-state guardians face a stricter rule. A nonresident can serve only if they're related to the ward in a way the statute lists, such as a parent, child, spouse, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew. It doesn't matter how much of the job could be handled from a distance.

Disqualifications include a felony conviction (a pending charge alone isn't the test) and a court finding that the person abused, abandoned, or neglected a child. Certain other offenses on Florida's background-screening list also disqualify someone. The court must turn away a person who can't handle the duties, too, or whose business ties to the ward create a conflict.

If a preneed guardian was named and qualifies, the court appoints that person unless doing so would be against the ward's best interests. Otherwise, the judge prefers a relative or someone able to handle the job, and listens to what the person and close family want.

Choosing a guardian takes trust. A guardian may end up making major life decisions and handling the day-to-day affairs the ward used to manage. If the ward has minor children, the guardian may be responsible for their care as well. Before you agree to serve, be sure you're ready; it's a big responsibility.

What Does a Guardian Have to Do After Being Appointed?

The appointment is where the work starts. Most guardians must complete at least 8 hours of training within 4 months. They also file an initial report within 60 days and an annual plan or accounting every year after that. In Marion County, the clerk's guardianship division audits those filings, and a guardian who falls behind risks contempt or removal.

Do I Need a Guardianship to Manage My Child's Inheritance or Settlement?

It depends on the amount. Parents can collect and manage up to $15,000 in total for a minor child without a court appointment. Above that, parents generally need a court-appointed guardian of the property, and Florida requires one when a child's net settlement is more than $15,000. Either way, parents can't spend the child's money on themselves without a court order.

If you plan to leave money to a child, a trust can hold it until the child is older, managed by someone you choose. When a child's guardianship overlaps with existing child custody arrangements, we look at both so the orders don't conflict.

My Child Has a Developmental Disability and Is Turning 18. Do I Need Guardianship or a Guardian Advocate?

Many families can use a guardian advocate, a lighter Florida option than full guardianship. At 18, your legal authority as a parent ends, even if your child still needs help. A court can appoint a guardian advocate without finding your child incapacitated, and it gives the advocate only the decisions your child can't make, even with help.

The disability, such as autism or Down syndrome, must have begun before 18 and be expected to continue indefinitely. The guardian advocate often doesn't need a lawyer of their own, though one helps with the petition. And if a durable power of attorney or advance directive already meets your child's needs, the court can't appoint a guardian advocate at all.

Start before the birthday. If you're leaving money to a son or daughter with a disability, how that money is held deserves its own planning, especially if they receive Medicaid or Social Security benefits.

What If Your Family Disagrees About a Guardianship?

Then the judge decides, based on the evidence presented at a hearing. Many fights are about who should serve or whether the person is really incapacitated. Others start after an appointment, when relatives question how the guardian is handling the money.

These disputes get personal fast, and they're decided in the courtroom. Chris Dunham began his career as a prosecutor in Florida's Fifth Judicial Circuit, the same circuit that hears Marion County cases. He has tried hundreds of cases and appeared in thousands of hearings involving family law, criminal defense, and civil litigation. The firm's attorneys bring over 20 years of combined courtroom experience.

Why Hire an Ocala Guardianship Attorney and Estate Planning Lawyer at Dunham & Ingram, LLC?

Setting up these legal relationships correctly can be tricky if you don't know Florida's rules, and when something goes wrong, it's the family that pays for it. We help clients plan ahead, including naming who would serve as their guardian, and we help family members who need to become one. When you hire our Ocala guardianship and estate planning team, you get:

• Advance planning so a loved one's wishes are carried out if they become incapacitated
• Guidance on how to become a legal guardian and what the role requires
• Access to experienced professionals for resources and support through difficult legal processes
• Help with estate planning, Medicaid and Social Security issues
• Help filing guardianship petitions and preparing documents, plus representation at hearings and through the whole process
• Representation if other family members dispute or challenge the guardianship

You'll work directly with Chris throughout your case rather than being routinely passed between layers of staff. He has represented clients in Marion County and surrounding communities for nearly two decades. The firm has over 100 Google reviews, and Spanish translation services are available. Our Ocala office is at 225 Northeast 8th Avenue, and we have a second office in Gainesville.

Frequently Asked Questions About Estate Planning and Guardianship in Ocala

How long does it take to get guardianship in Florida?

There's no set total. Florida puts deadlines on individual steps instead. The court appoints the examining committee within 5 days of filing, and the committee reports within 15 days of appointment. The hearing follows 10 to 30 days after the last report unless there's good cause for a different date. Family disputes and slow background checks can add time.

How much does guardianship cost in Florida, and who pays?

It depends on the case, and we won't quote a figure we can't back up. The court sets reasonable fees for the examining committee and for the attorney appointed for the person, and the guardian pays those fees from the ward's property. If the person is indigent, the state pays. We'll explain our own fees at your consultation.

What happens if my parent has no power of attorney or health care surrogate?

Medical decisions are the easier part. Florida law lets family members, starting with a spouse and then adult children, act as a health care proxy without going to court. Money is the harder gap. Without a durable power of attorney or a trust, family members may have no legal authority over accounts in your parent's name, and that's often what leads to a guardianship petition.

Does Florida have an estate tax?

Not for anyone who died after December 31, 2004. Federal estate tax is a separate system, and we'll tell you at your consultation whether it's a concern for your family.

Can a guardianship be ended if the person recovers?

It can. The ward or any other interested person can file a suggestion of capacity, which asks the court to find that the person can manage their own affairs again. The court then appoints a physician, who has 20 days to examine the ward and report back.

Talk to an Ocala Estate Planning and Guardianship Lawyer

One conversation can clarify what your family needs to do first. To schedule a case evaluation, contact us or call (352) 353-8117.

Dunham & Ingram LLC, 225 Northeast 8th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34470. Phone: (352) 353-8117.