BarbriSFCourseDetails
  • videocam Live Online with Live Q&A
  • calendar_month January 14, 2026 @ 1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
  • signal_cellular_alt Intermediate
  • card_travel Family Law
  • schedule 90 minutes

Guardianship Defense and Rights Restoration: Litigation, SDM, and Representation Pitfalls

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MSRP
$297.00
$252.45
Save $44.55

Discount expires 12/19/25

This course is $0 with these passes:

CLE
ALL
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About the Course

Introduction

This CLE webinar will provide elder law and disability rights practitioners with practical guidance for both sides of the guardianship proceeding: defending against unnecessary or overly broad petitions and pursuing restoration of rights for individuals already under guardianship. The panel will cover assessing pleadings, challenging or supporting capacity findings, and developing less-restrictive alternatives, which may include supported decision-making (SDM), advance directives, and limited guardianship.

Description

The experts will address restoration pathways, evidentiary burdens, and the procedural and practical hurdles that affect case dispositions. The faculty will discuss how to integrate clinical and collateral evidence, work effectively with evaluators/witnesses, and prepare for hearings on guardianship necessity and whether previously imposed restrictions should be reduced or removed. The panel will explore ethical representation challenges, including client-directed representation, fluctuating capacity, and navigating third‑party pressures.

Listen as our panel explains the standards, evidentiary strategies, and representation concerns that define guardianship defense and rights‑restoration practice.

Presented By

Bret Cahn
Counsel
Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Mr. Cahn is a trusts and estates and Article 81 guardianship litigator representing individuals and families across New York. He handles a full range of will contests, discovery and turnover proceedings, removal proceedings, contested accountings, disputes related to the spousal right of election, and contested Article 81 guardianship proceedings. Appearing regularly before Surrogate’s Court and Supreme Court, Mr. Cahn drafts and argues substantive and procedural motions, engages in settlement negotiations, examines witnesses, and runs a successful appellate practice.

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Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

Date + Time

  • event

    Wednesday, January 14, 2026

  • schedule

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

I. Introduction: current statutory frameworks

II. Defending against guardianship petitions

III. Less restrictive alternatives and SDM

A. Using SDM, POAs, representative payees, advance directives, and limited guardianships

IV. Restoration of rights: paths to full or partial restoration

A. Documenting improvement, support systems, and functional capacity

B. Evidence and expert testimony

C. Overcoming common hurdles: compliance history, housing, stability

V. Representational ethics and client‑directed representation

A. Representing clients with diminished or fluctuating capacity

B. Honoring client preferences vs. best interest pressures

C. Confidentiality, conflicts, and communication with family/supporters

VI. Practitioner takeaways

The panel will cover these and other important topics:

  • Analyzing guardianship petitions against statutory burdens and evidentiary requirements
  • Less‑restrictive alternatives, including SDM, to avoid unnecessary guardianship
  • Evaluating and challenging capacity evidence using clinical records, collateral information, and expert testimony
  • Restoration‑of‑rights documentation and evidentiary strategy
  • Confronting ethical issues when representing clients with impaired or fluctuating capacity