If you have formed a trust in Florida and are searching for a capable administrator, the professional fiduciaries at Estate and Guardianship Management Services, Inc. are prepared to help. We manage real property and financial holdings with meticulous care.

Successor Trustee Responsibilities

The successor trustee has a legal obligation to administer the trust according to its terms as set forth by the grantor. These tasks can include prudent management of assets, managing real property, payment of debts, and preparation of tax returns, accountings and proper distributions to beneficiaries.

The professionals at Estate and Guardianship Management Service, Inc have served as trustees for trust estates of all sizes.  The relationships they have developed over years of professional experience with attorneys, financial advisors, and tax professionals enable them to efficiently administer trusts. This helps ensure that the grantor(s) goals are met and beneficiaries are satisfied.

Our trust administrators provide personalized service to fit your specific needs.

Among retirees in Florida, there are a significant number who gradually lose the capacity to manage finances, make decisions or act in a timely manner to safeguard their own health and welfare. This naturally causes concern for the seniors and their relatives who are not in a position to assume that responsibility. In Florida, the court is empowered to appoint guardians for adults who are unable to manage their affairs for their own benefit.

Our firm, Estate and Guardianship Management Services, Inc. in Punta Gorda, provides professional and personalized guardianship services. We are registered with the Office of Public & Professional Guardians and have built a solid reputation since our founding in 2000.

Guardian Responsibilities

A guardian is responsible for everything that has to do with managing the care and finances of an incapacitated individual.  From ensuring that he/she is receiving the proper nutrition and health care, to making sure that all financial transactions are accounted for and recorded.

In addition to managing medical and financial decisions for the incapacitated individual, a guardian must prepare annual reports to be filed with and approved by the circuit court judge assigned to each case. The guardian works with professionals such as attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors to be sure that all decisions are made with the appropriate considerations.  It is a tremendous burden to cope with a family member whose faculties are failing.

Our skill set and experience is uniquely suited to manage these individuals’ lives, both medically and financially.

With a combined 35 years of experience acting as fiduciaries, our professional guardians have built a reputation for compassion and competence among providers of elder care, attorneys, families of those individuals they assist and the judicial system.

Durable Power of Attorney

A Durable Power of Attorney is a legal document executed by an individual (known as the principal), that authorizes another individual (known as agent or attorney in fact), to act on the principal’s behalf during his/her lifetime. Although a Durable Power of Attorney is valid at the time it is executed an agent usually does not begin acting on the principal’s behalf until such time as the principal is unable to act on his/her own.

When creating a Durable Power of Attorney a principal can designate the areas of authority they wish to designate to the agent. These areas can include banking and investment transactions, managing or selling real property, making decisions regarding insurance policies, legal claims and litigation, tax matters and applying for government benefits.  If an individual becomes incapacitated or unable to manage his/her own legal and financial affairs, and has not created a Durable Power of Attorney, only option may be for an interested person to initiate a guardianship.

Living Will

A Living Will in Florida is a document drafted by an individual that indicates to a health care professional, doctor, or hospital specific instructions for carrying out end-of-life wishes of the individual.  A living will is only applicable if an individual is incapacitated to make such decisions for themselves.  A living will also only applies in very specific statutorily described situations such as an unconscious individual suffering from a terminal illness for whom a doctor has determined has no meaningful chance of recovering. The living will provides written instructions of your desires for end of life treatment.

The professionals at Estate and Guardianship Management Services, Inc. are available to serve as health care surrogates and are willing to make decisions according to your expressed wishes.