Adult Guardianship & Assistance Monitoring Program

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The Charleston County Probate Court established a program in the Fall of 2011 to visit persons under adult guardianship. Every year the Charleston County Probate Court appoints guardians for incapacitated individuals, who need assistance in making decisions concerning their health and other aspects of their daily lives. While most guardians undertake their duties conscientiously, there are some cases where the care for the incapacitated individuals do not live up to the expectations of the Court. Until the establishment of this program, there was no consistent way to determine if the guardian was providing good care or if the guardianship was still necessary.

The Charleston County Probate Court wants every person under guardianship to receive good care. As such, we are training a group of volunteers (primarily students from the Charleston School of Law) to serve as Court Visitors. Efforts are being made to conduct visits in all open guardianship cases. If you are a guardian in an open Probate Court case, a Court Visitor will soon be contacting you to arrange a visit with you and the incapacitated individual in the case. The Court Visitor reports back to the Court about the current status of the guardianship. The Court then decides whether further action is appropriate.

Guardianship monitoring helps the court to manage risks, prevent abuse, and increase public confidence in the judicial system. By utilizing trained and supervised volunteers, the Court is extending the monitoring capacity of the court.