On January 30, 2020, Westchester County Surrogate Robert R. Sall granted the petition of parents of a 27-year-old autistic man to dissolve the guardianship of the property that had been ordered nine years earlier. Noting the “recent caselaw’s [sic] developing emphasis on the least restrictive alternatives to plenary guardianship,” Surrogate Sall also instructed the court-appointed…
DetailsOn March 26, 2019, Westchester County Surrogate Robert R. Sall terminated a guardianship appointment made in 2010 with respect to Stephen Capurso, pursuant to Article 17-A of the Surrogate’s Court Procedures Act. Represented by Disability Rights New York, Stephen convinced Surrogate Sall that he had “a system of supported decision-making in place that constitutes a…
DetailsOn December 27, 2017, Erie County Surrogate Barbara Howe terminated a guardianship appointment made pursuant to Article 17-A of the Surrogate’s Court Procedures Act, finding “although Michael’s intellectual assessment qualifies him for an article 17-A guardianship, his adaptive skills, as supported by his placement in a group home, enable him to make health care decisions…
DetailsOn June 29, 2017, Richmond County Surrogate Robert Gigante denied a petition for 17-A guardianship with regard to a twenty-eight-year old woman with intellectual disability. He found mother petitioner’s assertion “that K.L. is incapable of managing her affairs would run in direct contrast to the evidence presented” at the hearing, specifically, “that K.L. was a…
DetailsOn July 22, 2016, Kings County Surrogate Margarita López Torres denied a 17-A petitioner with respect to Michelle M., a woman with Down syndrome, because “to retain the legal right to make personal decisions about her own affairs, while providing her with any necessary assistance to make or communicate those decisions in a supported decision-making…
DetailsOn September 30, 2016, Suffolk County Surrogate John M. Czygier, Jr. denied a petition for 17-A guardianship over Sean O., a twenty-seven-year old man with developmental disability. Surrogate Czygier, Jr. found that notwithstanding his “cognitive limitations,” Sean “is also functioning on his own in society as a capable adult who engages in support[ed] decision making…
DetailsOn March 30, 2017, Surrogate John M. Cryzgier, Jr. of Suffolk County denied a 17-A guardianship petition with regard to Zachary W., a young man with autism. The Surrogate found “that [Zachary] is a young man capable of functioning in society with the help and supports of the family and institutions that serve him,” and…
DetailsOn December 31, 2012, Surrogate Kristin Booth Glen delivered a novel decision in the State of New York terminating a guardianship appointed pursuant to Article 17-A of the Surrogate’s Court Procedures Act. Relying in part on Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, she found that Dameris, the…
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