Free Consultation: (866) 894-4945Tap to Call This Lawyer
Phillip William Gunthert
Badges
Claimed Lawyer ProfileQ&AResponsive Law
Practice Areas
- Estate Planning
- Guardianship & Conservatorship Estate Administration, Health Care Directives, Trusts, Wills
- Probate
- Probate Administration, Probate Litigation, Will Contests
- Business Law
- Business Contracts, Business Dissolution, Business Finance, Business Formation, Business Litigation, Franchising, Mergers & Acquisitions, Partnership & Shareholder Disputes
- Real Estate Law
- Commercial Real Estate, Condominiums, Easements, Eminent Domain, Homeowners Association, Land Use & Zoning, Mortgages, Neighbor Disputes, Residential Real Estate, Water Law
- Elder Law
- Consumer Law
- Class Action, Lemon Law
Additional Practice Area
- General Practice
Fees
- Free Consultation
- Credit Cards Accepted
-
Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
Hourly and Flat-fee $0-$250 hour
Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice
- Florida
-
Languages
- English: Spoken, Written
- German: Spoken, Written
Professional Associations
- The Florida Bar # 0087575
- Member
- Current
-
Legal Answers
235 Questions Answered
- Q. Is a POA the same as guardianship? Differences please. This is for a person who is competent and in a nursing home.
- A: You may find this list helpful as a reference possibly and for guidance. Power of Attorney v. Guardianship The POA agent (appointed person) is chosen by the principal (the one who appoints authority or giving POA) The guardian (appointed person) is chosen by the court. Less expensive POA compared to More expensive Guardianship. Requires document completion by the principal. Guardianship Requires court hearings with court and judge. Types include general, limited, durable, and springing. Guardianship may cover three specific wards: children below 18 years old, mentally disabled adults, and incapacitated senior citizens. The scope of power and responsibility is outlined by the principal in a POA. The scope of power and responsibility is outlined by the court for a Guardianship. Main limitation: not honored by all institutions unless properly drafted in accordance with state law. Guardianship Main limitation: the court is given the full power to assign guardianship regardless of personal preferences. I will also add, proper estate planning should be put in place as well, as in Florida Healthcare Surrogate, Living Will, HIPAA Waiver and so forth along with POA so that any issues that may arise are indeed addressed.
- Q. The administrator at my sister's nursing home advised me to apply for guardianship or POA. Can you assist with questio?
- A: If your sister has mental capacity and is able to understand and comprehend then you can accomplish what you need with a Florida Estate Planning Attorney drafting a Florida Durable Power of Attorney, if you sister is unable to comprehend things and is lacking mental capacity then you will need to work with an attorney to file a guardianship with the courts. Obviously, if possible, a power of attorney would be easier and faster and more efficient and cost less.
- Q. I'm a single woman, no children, all my siblings live out of state. Should I appoint a Florida lawyer as a trustee/exec
- A: Your brother is already listed on all or almost all of your accounts as well as your other estate planning documents, at minimal he could easily serve as the Trustee related to your Revocable Trust and it should not be that demanding or difficult, worst case scenario he can decline to serve at the time and your second choice can serve or a professional option could be sought at that time. The cost of an attorney of other professional trustee serving as trustee and charging fees can be a substantial cost to the estate. Maybe a better idea will be to review the home if it is your only asset in the Trust and possibly find a better way to hold it as an alternative option. If the Trust only has the property in it and you want it to stay there, then it should not be that big of a deal, your brother could probably easily enough handle matters from afar and limited need to come to Florida. If your brother is listed and serving on the other documents for estate planning, the addition of the trustee role should not be anymore burdensome. You should speak with him directly about serving and if he is not interested, then find and consider alternative options.
Contact & Map
