Marchman Act

To seek a permanent guardianship requires two things. There’s going to be a petition to determine incapacity. In other words, the court is going to appoint three experts to determine is this person, is the respondent, the person on the other end of the petition, are they incapable of making rational decisions on their behalf. […]

HIPPA is our federal statute, which protects a medical records. Not everybody can look at our medical history. The guardianship statute provides for an exception to HIPPA. So when somebody has filed a petition for guardianship, the HIPPA statute or the exception to it is going to allow that person, in theory, if it’s granted, […]

Typically, the ETG or the Emergency Temporary Guardianship is going to be granted for a period of 90 days. That period of 90 days can then be granted for an additional 90 days. It tracks the Marchman Act statute, which is our involuntary commitment statute for addiction and mental illness. The two can run together. […]