An independent lifestyle is challenging to maintain in today’s changing world. It is difficult to know where to turn for guardian or senior care services. Our company, Social Service Resource Center, offers a coordinated approach for personal care needs for you or your loved one.
We specialize in assessing and assisting elderly and disabled persons who reside in the Charlotte, Lee, Sarasota and DeSoto county areas of Southwest Florida.
We can be there for your loved ones when you cannot. During a free, in-home assessment, we will help determine the services needed to assist each individual maintain a safe and happy life. We will follow up with family members and maintain communication. Each of our staff is individually bonded by the State of Florida.
Contact Social Service Resource Center for an assessment of how we can take the worry out of caring for a loved one from afar.
A Fiduciary is a person given the legal power to act on behalf of another in situations that require trust, honesty, and loyalty.
A Fiduciary has the responsibility to care for the assets or rights of another person.
A Guardian is someone who is appointed by the court and who has the legal authority and duty to care for someone that is incapacitated or disabled. A Guardian can serve as a guardian of the person, of the person’s estate or property – or both.
Bonded by their state, Guardians go through a background check. Credit history is reviewed by the certification office. Laws that govern Guardianship vary by state, so it is important to for you to speak with an attorney in your state when dealing with these issues.
For more information about Florida Guardianship, you may contact the Statewide Public Guardianship Office.
A less restrictive option to Guardianship is a Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA). Your DPOA or Attorney-in-Fact is responsible for managing your finances, paying bills, signing important legal documents, as well as making medical decisions. You can designate the extent of authority and when the authority takes effect, such as when you become incapacitated.
A few more facts:
In setting up your Estate plan, you should choose a Health Care Surrogate (HCS). Your HCS will have complete authority to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to make these decisions for yourself.
Social Service Resource Center is an excellent choice to serve as your Health Care Surrogate! We discuss with you your medical wishes and then follow through with them when the time comes.
It can be difficult to prepare for end of life decisions. However, the law allows you to create various legal protections that can ensure your desires are followed, even if you’re eventually unable to express them.
A Living Will is a document your attorney can provide for you that lists your preferences for health care for your medical professionals and your HCS, in order that they can make medical decision according to your wishes.
A Personal Representative is either an Executor for the Estate of a deceased person who has left a Will – or is the Administrator of an Intestate estate (the estate of someone that has not left a Will). The Personal Representative is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker of the Will.
Typically, the PR is responsible for offering the Will for probate, the first step in the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person.
The PR’s duties also include disbursing property to the beneficiaries as designated in the Will. The PR will obtain information of potential heirs, collecting and arranging for payment of debts of the estate and approving or disapproving creditor’s claims. The duties of a PR include making sure necessary forms are filed and tax payments are made.
A Representative Payee is someone appointed by the Social Security of the Veterans Administration to receive benefits for someone who cannot manage his or her money.
The responsibilities of a Representative Payee are:
A Trustee is a legal term that refers to a person who holds property, authority or a position of trust for the benefit of another. A Trust can be set up to benefit particular persons. The Trustee carries the fiduciary responsibilities and liability to use the trust assets according to the provisions of the trust instrument.
A Trustee also defends the Trust, prudently invests trust assets, as well as being held accountable for actions and keeping beneficiaries informed. A Trustee is loyal and administers in the best interest of the beneficiaries.
A Successor Trustee is an individual who takes over the position of Trustee when the original can no longer serve. Such circumstances may include incapacity of death.
A competent adult may name a Pre-need Guardian or Durable Power of Attorney by making a written declaration naming such person to serve in the event of the declarant’s incapacity. This document must be signed by the declarant and two witnesses who are present at the time of signing.
The Pre-need Guardian or DPOA shall assume their duties immediately upon a declaration of incapacity. This is an important designation, since a person who becomes incapacitated may avoid the expense of Guardianship.