New York Guardianship Law, Advocating for Change

Daniel Leinung (J.D., Albany Law School 2009) has published his comment entitled Reforming New York State’s Guardianship System: It’s Time for a Change (Again), 2 Alb. Gov’t L. Rev 677 (2009).  Excerpts from the introduction of the article are below:

First, this article will examine the need for guardianships in our society today. Next, it will look at the New York State’s current guardianship system and the reforms that are necessary to fix several systemic problems. These problems include abuses by guardians, inadequate training for guardians and those associated with the guardianship process, and the failure to provide guardianships to those who lack the resources to obtain a guardian for themselves.

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Two models that may provide solutions to these problems are those employed by the State of Florida and the Vera Institute of Justice’s Guardianship Project (Project), which is run out of Brooklyn, New York. Florida has recently revamped its guardianship system via statute, and offers many statutory cures for New York’s ailing guardianship system. The Project would serve as a good model for the implementation of these statutory changes.