Legal Options for Relative Caregivers: Standby Guardianship

Options for Relative Caregivers

1. Adoption (in all states)
2. Guardianship (in all states)
3. Legal Custody (in all states)
4. Open Adoption with Agreements (in some states)
5. De Facto Custodian (in some states)
6. Permanent Guardianship (in some states)
7. Standby Guardianship (in some states)
8. Subsidized Guardianship (in some states)
9. Medical & Educational Consent (in some states)

These laws were originally designed in response to the AIDS crisis and allow a terminally ill parent to designate a standby guardian to take over the day to day care of a child in the event of a triggering event, such as incapacity, without the parents' rights being terminated. There is a Sense of Congress in the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) that States should pass these laws:

Arkansas: AK Code, 28-65-221
California: CA Probate Code, section 2105
Connecticut: CT Statutes, section 45a-624
Florida: FL Statutes, 744.304
Illinois: IL Statutes, Chapter 755, section 5/11a-3.1
Iowa: IA Statutes, 633.560
Maryland: MD Code, 13-903 and 13-904
Massachusetts: MA General Laws, Ch. 201, section 2B
Minnesota: In April 2000, a new "standby and alternate custodies" law went into effect in Minnesota, which can be found as Senate File 3018 to be codified in MN Statutes, chapter 257B.
Nebraska: NE Revised Statutes, section 30.2608
New Jersey: NJ Statutes, 3B:12-67 to 3B:12-76
New York: NY Consolidated Laws, SCPA, section 1726
North Carolina: NC Statutes, 35A-1370 to 35A-1382
Pennsylvania: PA Statutes, 5602 to 5612
Virginia: VA Code 16.1-349 to 16.1-355
West Virginia: WV Code 44A-5-1 to 44A-5-8
Wisconsin: WI Statutes 48-978
Wyoming: WY Statutes 3-2-108

Source: Generations United, one of the premier Web resources for grandparents and other relative caregivers. Copyright 2002, Generations United. Reprinted with permission of Generations United http://www.gu.org

© 2002 Generations United