Fiduciary services involve the appointment of a competent person to make personal and financial decision for the benefit of an incompetent individual. The fiduciary may be a guardian, conservator, or trustee. The fiduciary may be appointed at the request of the incompetent individual, at the request of her friends or family, at the insistence of a protective services agency or imposed by a court. The fiduciary may control all aspects of the incompetent person's life or the powers may be limited.

Weber & Baum can provide the following services for families and individuals in need of fiduciary services:

1) Advice and Representation:

We analyze family situations and help the family determine the need for a fiduciary or other substitute decision maker.

We provide legal advice and representation of the family or petitioner to obtain the appropriate decision-maker.

We provide continued legal representation for the decision-maker in all legal matters related to the fiduciary relationship. Representation may include; seeking authority to make extraordinary medical decisions, licenses to sell, petitions for approval of estate plans, filing of accounts, and handling judicial reviews.

2) Personal and Financial Decision Maker

We accept appointments as guardian, conservator or trustee and assume all decision making responsibility for the disabled person. We work with the family members, but as the fiduciary we are responsible for making all decisions. Decisions may include consenting to medical treatment, determining the ward's living situation, determining the need for and identity of care givers, and providing financial management of the ward's assets.

We provide all legal services required by the decision-maker including preparation of all required legal documents and representation at court and administrative hearings.

We provide financial management services. We manage the ward's estate and pay all bills from the ward's estate. We will contract with a broker or other financial manager for investment of assets and other services.

We provide property management services. We will insure that the ward's home or other real estates is properly maintained.

We will contract with appropriate agencies to oversee the ward's well being and safety in the home.