VCAT Guardianship and Administration List

KHQ was engaged by the mother of a child with a severe intellectual disability.

The mother was the son’s primary care giver and had been involved in a family law separation, property and parenting dispute with the son’s father.

During his minority the son was under the care of the Royal Children’s Hospital. However, he was just about to turn 18 and his care was to transition to adult care. Becoming of age also meant that the mother could no longer make all decisions with respect to her son’s personal and financial matters and there was no agreement between the parents in this regard.

Where an adult does not have decision-making capacity, the Guardianship and Administration Lits of VCAT has jurisdiction to appoint an administrator (for financial matters) and a guardian (for personal matters).

We assisted the mother in obtaining an administration and guardianship order in respect of her son to ensure his continuity of care into his adulthood. This enabled the mother to continue looking after his financial and legal affairs and make personal decisions for him such as where he was to live, what kind of work he could undertake and included medical decisions. Whilst the application was originally opposed by the father, we were able to achieve an amicable resolution with the father’s legal representative.

This case demonstrates the importance of the intersection between our Family & Relationship Law and Wills & Estates practices. Both teams worked collaboratively to complement each jurisdiction and achieve an overall and comprehensive outcome for their clients.