Caring for the Person and Property of Disabled Adults

Abstract

When a child with cognitive disabilities is born, parenting may take on an unexpected meaning. Instead of spending 18 years preparing a child to leave the family nest, a parent has a different sort of lifelong commitment. But, against whose “life” is this commitment judged? To be sure, there exists the possibility of a day that the child outlives her parents. Or, there may come a day when the parents themselves are disabled and cannot care for themselves let alone a now adult child who has come to rely and depend on them. This article will explore what parents of children with cognitive disabilities need to know. It will examine the applicable laws of guardianship and conservatorship and also examine the issues that arise. The article will conclude by proposing solutions to many of the legal problems that parents face. This article discusses what the parents of unmarried disabled adults can do in order to ensure that their children are taken care of when the parents become incapacitated, elderly, or otherwise unable to care for their disabled child.