We are back at it again, answering your most frequently asked guardianship questions stemming from the popular movie on Netflix and Amazon, “I Care A Lot.” As with most movies, the storyline can be a bit far fetched and not in line with reality. This is the case in “I Care A Lot’ in that the the court appoints the petitioner as the guardian without notifying any family members or other interested persons. This leads us to this week’s question:

Does the court have any obligation to try and find the next of kin to determine if they would be a better guardian?

Maryland law requires that the next of kin and other interested persons receive notice of the guardianship proceeding. This notice is to include all pleadings filed with the court, a show cause order, and the date of the guardianship hearing. The person filing the petition must provide proof to the court that these interested persons have been served all of these documents. Guardianship hearings will be postponed, if needed, to ensure that all relevant parties have had the opportunity to receive the proper notice and participate, if they so choose.

In terms of choosing the best guardian, Maryland law values familial relations and, hence, gives family members priority over others; however, the court can bypass someone with higher priority, in favor of someone with lower priority, for good cause. Consider, for example, a prospective ward who is married and has three children. The court will consider the spouse before any of the three children because the spouse has higher priority than the children. That being said, there may be a very good reason to bypass the spouse in favor of appointing one or more of the three children. Once such reason might be that the spouse is in poor health and could not perform the necessary duties required of a guardian.