Taking Guardianship of Max, Part 3

Our Court Date

  On the appointed afternoon, the five of us, MyGuy, Nicole Goodson the lawyer, our friend D____, and me with Max, met in the City County Building.
  After several years, my memory is a little hazy of some details.  There was some waiting time in a different room.  Nicole was great at walking us through what we should expect.

  A surprise 

was that the city provided someone to sit with us, looking after Max's interests.  Because unfortunately parents don't always.  She mostly just sat there in our case, but i suppose in other situations she would be more active.
  At the given time, we all moved into the courtroom.  The judge entered.  He had some questions to ask, and we answered.  It was relatively painless, in one sense.
  On the other hand
Max did not handle it very well.  Oh, he could have done much worse, but the judge's questions, being called "incompetant," that was clearly upsetting to him.

Max at the 2006 Day Out with Thomas,
Still the Highlight of His Year Event

  i would have preferred to not put him through it.
  Meanwhile, his self-talk rose in volume and frequency.  Recognizable words included frequent references to Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, and their adventures.

Benefits of the Pain

 Harrowing as the experience was, having Max with us was beneficial. 

  Again in Nicole's words, "The judge must be very careful in giving a parent control. Meeting the person involved is part of making sure it's warranted."

  Seeing our young man talking like this left no doubt in the judge's mind that guardianship was in his best interest.  

Afterwards

  Immediately after the judge granted us guardianship, there was the inevitable paperwork.  i think the original paper is on legal sheets, but what we have is two 8.5x11 pages.  They're rather tattered by now, because i keep one set with me and need to keep whipping it out in doctor's offices and the like, to prove that i do indeed have the right to handle these records.  

Still our Child, Still Guarding, Regardless of Age or Size

  At some point we may need to revisit the issue.  i may be dreaming, but there is some expectation that Max will improve, someday be able to take on his own affairs.  It will be several years down the road yet, but when the time comes, we need to be ready.

Indiana Guardianship Law

Earlier Posts in Series: Part 1 Part 2