Zelman v. Zelman, is new case law in Florida that will make it extremely difficult for any guardianship to argue against empowering relatives/loved ones with FULL Interested Person rights.  The 2006 Florida Supreme Court case of Hayes v. Guardianship of Thompson ruled much the same, but was written in a somewhat unclear and confusing manner that it has allowed guardianship lawyers to escape its true meaning.

This decision ensures that family members have full rights to participate in proceedings.

and could be very, very beneficial, by legally obstructing guardianship lawyers and courts from sabotaging a family member’s Interested Person rights and eliminate ambiguity and  debate over who qualifies for Interested Person rights, and the extent of those rights. Lawyers thrive on such ambiguity and debate and could go a very long way toward protecting an Alleged Incapacitated Person (AIP) and/or Ward.   Obviously, a big key to protecting AIP’s from becoming Wards is to stop fraudulent petition filers before the bull’s out of the barn and they get control of the proceedings.  If family members are afforded their full rights, it becomes far more difficult to railroad the AIP.