There are several options to help adults with developmental disabilities who can make some but not all decisions for themselves.
Supported Decision-Making
The first and least restrictive option we suggest is Supported Decision-Making (SDM). SDM is an alternative to guardianship that lets adults with disabilities make their own decisions with the support of people they trust. We all use SDM every day to get advice from family and friends. We may ask for help deciding what laptop to buy or whether to repair our car. A person with a disability (“decision-maker”) can formalize how they use SDM in an agreement. They can say what things they want support with, like money, health, education, or housing. They can also say who they want to support them (“supporters”) and how they do and do not want to be supported. This is called a Supported Decision-Making Agreement (SDMA). SDM can be used alone, or if more restrictive options are necessary, as part of the estate planning process or guardianship/guardian advocacy.
Estate Planning Process
The second option we suggest is to have a lawyer create two simple estate planning documents (a durable power of attorney and health care surrogate designation) that your adult child with developmental disabilities can sign. This allows them to designate specific decision making rights to a parent or person they trust. The health care surrogate documents also allow them to make their wishes known for how they would like to have certain medical situations handled if they ever arise. This option can be used alone or as part of Supported Decision-Making.
Guardian Advocate Process
The third and most restrictive option is to fill out paperwork to open a guardian advocate case in your county. This allows you to put a request in to have the court appoint you as the guardian advocate for the adult with developmental disabilities. In this scenario the court will determine whether the adult has the ability/capacity to exercise their civil rights. The court will then remove all the rights the person is found to be unable to exercise and designate a guardian advocate/guardian to exercise those rights on the person's behalf. Though you can request that only certain rights be removed, ultimately it is up to the court which to remove. Because taking away someone's rights is a very serious matter, and because it is hard to reverse, we recommend that you try less restrictive options first.