What are the duties of a legal guardian for elderly parents?
The term “legal guardian” has different meanings in different states. I’ll take it to mean that your question applies to the duties of a person who was appointed guardian over an incompetent elder by a court. A guardianship is also called a conservatorship in some places. The guardianship can cover either the aging person’s money, or the person’s safety and welfare, or both. The duties of a guardian, generally speaking, are to oversee the welfare and safety the aging person under guardianship, and to attend to the financial needs of the individual, using his or her assets wisely. A guardian has a legal duty, called a “fiduciary duty”, to act in the best interests of the individual. A guardian has total control over the aging person they are appointed to serve. They can decide how to spend the elder’s money, where the elder will live, what medical care the elder will receive, and how much freedom the elder or aging parent has in his or her life. The powers can be total. An elder under g
