Guardianship questions usually arrive at a hard moment. A parent is no longer able to make safe decisions. A child's caregiver isn't the person named on the paperwork. A relative is in the hospital and nobody can get a straight answer about their care because no one holds legal authority. Kanu & Associates, P.C. handles this work as part of our estate planning and family law practice in Arizona and New Mexico, and we approach it the way we approach everything else — understand your goals, explain your options, then help you move forward with confidence.
When a Guardianship Is the Right Step
A guardianship gives one person the legal authority to make personal decisions for another — where they live, what medical care they receive, who they see. It is a serious step, because it moves decision-making away from the person it concerns, and the courts treat it that way. That is also why it is sometimes exactly the right answer.
The situations we hear about most often look like this:
- An aging parent with dementia or a similar condition who never signed a health care power of attorney
- An adult child with a developmental disability who is approaching or has passed the age of eighteen
- A minor being raised by a grandparent, aunt, uncle or family friend who needs authority for school, medical care and benefits
- An adult injured suddenly, with no documents in place and decisions that cannot wait
- A family that disagrees about who should be in charge, and needs the question settled properly
Not every one of these needs a guardianship. Sometimes a power of attorney, a health care directive or a less restrictive arrangement does the job with far less friction. Part of our job is telling you honestly which one you are looking at before you spend money on the wrong thing.
How We Help Families Through It
Guardianship is a court matter, which means paperwork, notice to family members, a hearing and ongoing obligations once you are appointed. We walk clients through the whole arc of it — the petition, the evidence the court will want to see, who has to be told, what happens if a relative objects, and what you are responsible for afterward.
We also tell you plainly when a case is likely to be contested. Families fight about this. When they do, the person petitioning needs a clear record and a clear reason, and the person being petitioned over deserves someone paying attention to whether a guardianship is really necessary. We have represented people on both sides of that question.
Where guardianship overlaps with other issues, you are not starting over with a new firm. Our practice covers immigration law, criminal defense, estate planning, family law and business law, so if the guardianship touches a custody matter, a probate question, or a child's immigration status, it stays in one place.
What sets Dr. Kanu apart is his meticulous attention to detail and commitment to his clients' success.
Planning Ahead So No One Has to Guess
Most guardianships we see could have been avoided, or at least made much simpler, by documents signed years earlier. That is the quieter half of this work. In an estate planning conversation we talk about who you would want making decisions for you, who you would want raising your children, and what you would want them to do — then we put it in writing while you are the one choosing.
For parents of a child with a disability, the age of eighteen is a real deadline worth planning around rather than discovering. For adult children of aging parents, the right time to have the conversation is before a crisis forces it. We prepare practical estate planning documents built around your family, your property, your health care and your legacy goals — not a form pulled off a shelf.
Talk to Kanu & Associates
Solomon Kanu brings more than two decades of legal experience to this work. He is admitted to practice in Arizona, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and is a member of the State Bar of New Mexico. In 2012 the State Bar of Arizona named him among the Top 20 Solo Practitioners in Arizona. Clients have rated the firm 4.3 out of 5 across 152 reviews.
Call (602) 324-5320email solomon@kanulaw.com, or visit us at 15150 W Pk Pl Ste 215-2064, Goodyear, AZ 85395. We are open Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm. Bring whatever documents you already have, and bring your questions — the first conversation is mostly us listening.