By Marsha C. Hudson and Tamu Nyasha
Title II of the RCW governs the appointment of a guardian in matters where the Court finds that an individual to be incapacitated as to their person or estate. RCW 11.88. When a Petition for Guardianship is made, the appointment of a Guardian ad Litem is mandatory. RCW 11.88.090(3). The appointment of a Guardian ad Litem must be drawn from a registry, the training for inclusion on which is also mandatory. RCW 11.88.090(4)(a). GALR 2(d). The Guardian ad Litem is expected to maintain an “appearance of fairness” in all
matters. GALR 2(b).
On any day of the week a commissioner in the Probate/Guardianship Ex Parte Department in King County hears, one ventures to guess, numerous cases in which a guardianship is sought. It has been the undersigned attorneys’ observations that in the majority of these cases none of the professionals involved, including and most notably the Guardian ad Litem, is a person of color or minority status. What does this say about the apparent fairness of a legal process in which many, perhaps even most, of the subjects of the action are Persons of Color?
Every individual who has the capacity to understand the process and who is the subject of a petition for guardianship (an action which has the potential to gravely restrict the rights of the alleged incapacitated person) is likely to experience apprehension. In many cases this is an understatement. For a person of color or minority ethnic status, in situations where no professional in the courtroom has a similar cultural experience, the encounter is doubly distressing. There is a critical need for more minority Title II GALs in order to ensure a culturally diverse registry and to preserve the quality and integrity of GAL work.
If you or your staff is a person of color or minority ethnic status, please seriously consider taking the mandatory training. The work may not make you rich but it is most assuredly enriching. The mandatory training for initial certification as a Title 11 GAL will be held May 20 and 21 at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. For more information, please call (206) 267-7004 or go to www.kcba.org/CLE.
Marsha C. Hudson is an Elder Law Attorney practicing primarily in the area of guardianships from her office at Green Lake. Ms. Hudson is a Title II Guardian ad Litem and is the Editor for the 2004 Title II Guardian ad Litem CLE workbook. Ms. Nyasha is part-time Office Manager for Ms. Hudson. Tamu Nyasha is an African-American woman with experience in diversity training and will be attending the Title II Guardian ad Litem training this May.
