Guar-09
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What will happen at the court hearing?
You or your lawyer will have filed all the necessary papers with the Surrogate Court and a court hearing date will have been set. The Clerk of the Surrogate Court will have checked the application papers to make sure that nothing is missing. You must have served all the people listed in Question 8 at least 10 days before the hearing date. You attend court on the selected date. A judge will preside over the hearing in a courtroom. Anyone served with a notice of the application or anyone else the court agrees to hear can appear and make representations.
The judge will probably have read through your application prior to appearing in court and will be generally familiar with the circumstances. The judge must be satisfied that the proposed dependent adult will substantially benefit from the appointment of a guardian and that it would be in his or her best interests. The judge will ask whatever questions are necessary to be satisfied about this. If the judge has any doubts or reservations, he or she may ask that a report be prepared setting out the physical, mental, social, vocational, residential, educational or other needs both present and future of the proposed dependent adult and generally the ability to care for him/herself and make reasonable judgments for him/herself.
May 2000
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