Andersen & Lee, P.C.

Emergency Guardianship Proxy

EMERGENCY GUARDIANSHIP PROXY

Parents of minor children often are faced with difficult situations. You want to go away on vacation but you want to be sure that any situations that arise can be handled while you are gone. Hospitals and doctors will not treat minors without proper authorization. Schools require that only proper guardians can sign permissions slips. Or you are a single parent who may have to go into the hospital for a medical procedure that will leave you disabled for a time.

Massachusetts has tried to assist parents with these situations with the Emergency Proxy Law. The law allows a parent or guardian, without court intervention, to appoint a short-term emergency proxy of a minor. It must be done by a written instrument signed in front of at least two witnesses who are 18 years of age or older. The Proxy must also sign the instrument although he or she is not required to sign at the same time as the parent or guardian.

You cannot appoint a Emergency Proxy if there is another parent who is willing and able to care for the minor unless that parent consents to the appointment by signing the written instrument of appointment.

In your instrument you can specify the dates the Emergency Proxy is to be authorized. However, the law only allows for a sixty day period. The Emergency Proxy can be revoked by the parent or guardian at any time. The appointment of an Emergency Proxy does not take any legal rights away from the parent or guardian. The parent or guardian would continue to have authority over the minor as well as the Emergency Proxy. The Emergency Proxy would have authority over the person of the minor but not his or her estate (meaning his or her assets).

If you have any questions or need an Emergency Proxy, we would be pleased to meet with you.