Woman Prevails in Guardianship to Protect Her Wishes

Momentous news from the Washington Post:

In a victory for the rights of adults with disabilities, a judge declared Friday that a 29-year-old woman with Down syndrome can live the life she wants, rejecting a guardianship request from her parents that would have allowed them to keep her in a group home against her will.

The ruling thrilled Jenny Hatch and her supporters, who included some of the country’s most prominent disability advocates.  For more than a year, Margaret Jean Hatch, whom everyone calls Jenny, had been under a temporary guardianship and living in a series of group homes, removed from the life she knew. Hatch wanted to continue working at a thrift store and living with friends Kelly Morris and Jim Talbert, who employed her and took her into their home last year when she needed a place to recover after a bicycle accident.

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Legally, Hatch’s case came down to two questions: Was she an incapacitated adult in need of a guardian, and, if so, who would best serve in that role — her mother and stepfather, or Morris and Talbert?

But for national experts on the rights of people with disabilities, several of whom testified on Hatch’s behalf, the case was about much more. It was about an individual’s right to choose how to live and the government’s progress in providing the help needed to integrate even those with the most profound needs into the community.

In the end, Newport News Circuit Court Judge David F. Pugh said he believed that Hatch, who has an IQ of about 50, needed a guardian to help her make decisions but that he had also taken into account her preferences. He designated Morris and Talbert her temporary guardians for the next year, with the goal of ultimately helping her achieve more independence.

“For anyone who has been told you can’t do something, you can’t make your own decisions, I give you Jenny Hatch — the rock that starts the avalanche,” her attorney, Jonathan Martinis, exulted after the decision.

The decision is momentous because it is so rare that a person deemed incompetent or incapacitated is given any legal ability to direct his or her guardianship, or direct decisions of the guardian.  Guardianship, unfortunately, impacts the disabled, including the aged as they confront short-term and long-term disabilities.  Too often, seniors do not consider carefully this issue in crafting an estate and financial plan.

For a prior article regarding this case, go here. 

For more information regarding guardianship, see the following articles:

• Estate Plans Should Consider and Attempt to Resolve Guardianship;
• Illinois Permits Guardian Authority to Petition for Termination of a Ward's Marriage; 
• GAO reports on Guardianship Abuse;
• National Groups Acknowledge Need for Guardianship Reform;
• Report on Abuse by Guardians and the Guardianship Process Released;
• Another Reason for Guardianship Planning: Guardian Convicted of Homicide in Death of Ward