Review of The Fundamentals of Guardianship: What Every Guardian Should Know

• Date: 01 January 2024

Bifocal January-February 2024 Vol. 45, No. 3

109

The book was written by Erica Costello, Elizabeth

Russo, and David Godfrey, three attorneys, each with

over 20 years of experience in adult guardianship

work. Erica and Elizabeth are nationally certified

guardians, the first Court filing of David’s career was

an adult guardianship case.

The book should be helpful for anyone looking

to defend legal and human rights of adults in

guardianship cases.

Published by the ABA Commission on Law and

Aging. Available in the ABA Webstore. List price

$49.95, ABA Member price $44.95. https://www.

americanbar.org/products/inv/book/435500044

Review of The

Fundamentals of

Guardianship:

What Every Guardian

Should Know

A Book Review By Beth Russo, JD,

Senior Attorney

ABA Commission on Law and Aging

As readers of this publication know, being a guardian

is one of the most sacred ways to serve others that we

have in our society. As guardian, you stand in place

for the person, making decisions that they are unable

to make for themselves in order to maximize their

independence while also keeping them safe.

The National Guardianship Association is an

organization whose mission is to advance nationally

recognized standards of excellence in guardianship. It

serves as a resource for guardians and those interested

in guardianship either as an institution or on a more

personal level. All of these audiences will get

something from the recent update of its handbook, The

Fundamentals of Guardianship: What Every Guardian

Should Know.

Although dealing with a person’s most intimate

affairs, a guardianship is a construct rooted in public

trust. It is the government exercising its parens

patriae authority in a similar way to how a feudal

lord would protect his serfs. Because of the concerns

for exploitation that are inherent in guardianship,

there are steps that must be taken and reports that

must be made when managing someone else’s affairs

that are not present when managing our own lives.

However, despite this necessity and in spite of the

growing number of guardianships in this country (an

estimated 1.3 million people were under guardianship

according to a 2018 study published by the National

Council on Disability) there is very little formal

training for guardians. That is why an update to The

Fundamentals of Guardianship: What Every Guardian

Should Know is so needed. It is an easily digestible

textbook of best practices for guardianship.

This book walks readers step-by-step through all of a

guardian’s potential responsibilities and explains what

is needed along the way and why. While this book

is marketed towards guardians, anyone interested in

Book Review