Limited conservatorship?

Florida has an interesting process for assisting older adults: the voluntary guardianship. Rather than the all-or-nothing that applies to a conservatorship in Michigan, the Florida process permits an individual to go to the probate court and designate a voluntary guardian to handle only certain accounts for him or her. The authority to act can be withdrawn at any time.

In Michigan, a conservator is a person designated by the probate court to handle the protected person's money. A guardian handles personal decisions. It appears that the term "guardian" in Florida covers both concepts.

In Michigan, when the court has designated a substitute decision-maker, the protected person's authority on that subject is at an end. The conservator has all the authority to handle the PP's money; the PP has none.

A principle often heard in Michigan is that the court-imposed limitation on a protected person's autonomy should be limited to that which is necessary. Something like the voluntary guardianship concept would be consistent with that goal.