so in new jersey you have to file a

complaint to be appointed as the

guardian of an incapacitated person so

usually what happens is there’s a

situation where there’s an individual

that perhaps you’re caring for or your

family member too who has been

determined by a medical professional to

be incapacitated so that means that

they’re unable to govern their own

affairs in one or

many different categories such as the

ability to govern their own finances

make medical decisions for themselves or

educational decisions so what happens is

you file a complaint and you can either

file a loan or with co guardians and the

complaint basically outlines the

circumstances of the case if there’s any

assets held by the alleged incapacitated

individual

and other information that’s important

to the court so after that’s filed

everyone who is an interested party

would be noticed so for example i often

do cases for parents who have adult

disabled children and in that

circumstance the parents would provide

adequate notice to siblings who might be

interested in being involved in the

process

the complaint includes the relevant

information

along with

typically two certifications from two

different doctors who opine that the

individual is incapacitated or sometimes

only partially incapacitated

after that the court reviews everything

and depending upon the case because

every case is very fact sensitive an

attorney might be appointed for the

incapacitated individual a temporary

guardian might be appointed

and the process will continue with the

court ultimately there would be a

hearing to determine again whether a

full guardian should be put into place

or sometimes it’s appropriate for just a

partial guardian and then the matter is

complete