Documenting Legal Guardianship

[GenieAulogy 0]

Hi all,

 

I am seeking advice on documenting legal guardianship. I have two cases, so far, in which one person was appointed legal guardian of two children of a deceased father.

 

I have tried doing it as a Parent-Child relationship, but since there's no place for date or witnesses in that sort of tag, it doesn't work quite as I want it to.

 

I also tried creating an "Other" tag with the roles of Guardian, Ward1, Ward2, Security1, and Security2, but in the person view of a child (Ward1), he's shown as a Witness, not in the Role of Ward. This is nitpicky, I know, but it does get confusing when trying to sort out relationships at a glance onscreen.

 

I've also tried creating separate tags, in which each Ward is a principal, as well as the guardian. (I haven't run across a case of joint-guardianship so far, but I can already see where that wouldn't work in this way.)

 

Ultimately, I would like to see something like this... For example, where Elijah D Skidmore was appointed guardian of Andrew N Barnett, I would like to be able to look in the Person view for Andrew and see something similar to the following:

 

Type: Ward of (instead of Witness)

Date: Oct 1847

Name/Place: Elijah D Skidmore, Sevier Co., AR

 

And then in the person view of Elijah D Skidmore:

Type: Guardian of

Date: Oct 1847

Name/Place: Andrew N Barnett, Sevier Co., AR

 

I know I'd have to create "Guardian of" and "Ward of" tags to get exactly that format. That type of onscreen display, at least, is what I'm after. But I have a feeling that would open up major cans of worms when trying to compose report sentences, especially when using anything other than the "raw data" style in Second Site.

 

I have looked in the excellent "Getting the Most Out of The Master Genealogist," as well as on Terry Reigel's and Lee Hoffman's websites, but I have not seen anything addressing guardianship specifically (doesn't mean it isn't there; just means I've missed it. )

 

Basically, I think I'm just new enough at all of this to get myself in trouble when I start trying to customise things on my own. I'm wondering if it would be best just to document it all in the memo field in a tag for each party, with the securities listed in Security (witness) roles. I get the feeling I'm missing something fundamental to the problem, so I thought I'd post here first to see if anyone who's handled similar situations might have some tips on how they accomplished it.

 

Many thanks

Edited June 14, 2006 by GenieAulogy

[Terry Reigel 0]

I also tried creating an "Other" tag with the roles of Guardian, Ward1, Ward2, Security1, and Security2, but in the person view of a child (Ward1), he's shown as a Witness, not in the Role of Ward.

On the Other tab of the Report Definition screen, check the boxes under "Display role for" and the role will display in the Name/Place column. I don't know a way to get the Type column to change other than to have separate tag types discussed below, but that has other issues.

Type: Ward of (instead of Witness)

Date: Oct 1847

Name/Place: Elijah D Skidmore, Sevier Co., AR

 

And then in the person view of Elijah D Skidmore:

Type: Guardian of

Date: Oct 1847

Name/Place: Andrew N Barnett, Sevier Co., AR

 

I know I'd have to create "Guardian of" and "Ward of" tags to get exactly that format. That type of onscreen display, at least, is what I'm after. But I have a feeling that would open up major cans of worms when trying to compose report sentences, especially when using anything other than the "raw data" style in Second Site.

The real problem is you would have to enter both the ward and guardian in both tag types, so both tag types will show in the person view of each person. Then you would also see the Ward of tag in the guadian's person view, and the Guardian of tag in the ward's view.

 

You could avoid that by entering the second name in the Memo field, rather than as a person in the tag. That would actually give you the display you want in the person view, but you loose the ability to click on the name in the PV to change to the other person, and perhaps more importantly, you loose the link in Second Site.

I have looked in the excellent "Getting the Most Out of The Master Genealogist," as well as on Terry Reigel's and Lee Hoffman's websites, but I have not seen anything addressing guardianship specifically (doesn't mean it isn't there; just means I've missed it. )

You didn't miss it on my site - I've never covered it. In fact, I've never done it.

I'm wondering if it would be best just to document it all in the memo field in a tag for each party, with the securities listed in Security (witness) roles. I get the feeling I'm missing something fundamental to the problem, so I thought I'd post here first to see if anyone who's handled similar situations might have some tips on how they accomplished it.

I think you are on the right track to use a custom tag type, and to put everyone you want to connect to the event in that one tag. That's especially true for Second Site output, as it makes links out of all the names.

[GenieAulogy 0]

Thank you, Terry. I had not thought of the problem of having both tags show in the person screen. And I don't want to lost the links in Second Site, so the memo idea would definitely not work.

 

I got the bright idea of modifying a marriage tag, putting the guardian as P1, and one ward as P2. That seems to do the trick of having both wards show up on the guardian's detail view, while only the guardian shows up on each ward's view. I guess I'll have to decide which tag to put the securities on, in order to keep them from showing up twice (can't think of any other way around this offhand). I haven't tested this in Second Site yet, but I'll report back when I do.

 

Thank you for the help!

 

Carol

[Terry Reigel 0]

That sounds like a good idea, as long as there are not more than 2 wards. But don't use a marriage tag - that creates a marriage relationship, which you don't want in the various views, nor in reports and SS. Instead use a tag in the Other Events group.

[GenieAulogy 0]

That sounds like a good idea, as long as there are not more than 2 wards. But don't use a marriage tag - that creates a marriage relationship, which you don't want in the various views, nor in reports and SS. Instead use a tag in the Other Events group.

 

Whew... did I ever luck out. I *thought* I was modifying a marriage tag, but it was an alt tag. Thankfully, it was in the Other Events group.

 

 

Again, thank you, Terry.

[Terry Reigel 0]

You're welcome.

 

Terry

[GenerationGoneBy 0]

Sorry been away at a funeral.

 

Here's my tag for guardianships:

 

DECEASED PARENT:

 

[:CR:][:TAB:][R:Deceased Parent] has died, leaving <[R:Ward] a ward> <[R:Wards] wards> of the state. [R:guardian] was appointed as guardian <[D]> <[L]>. <[M]>

 

WARD:

 

[:CR:][:TAB:][R:Deceased Parent] has died, leaving [R:Ward] a ward of the state. [R:guardian] was appointed [R:Ward]'s guardian <[D]> <[L]>. <[M]>

 

WARDS:

 

[:CR:][:TAB:][R:Deceased Parent] has died, leaving [R:Wards] wards of the state. [R:guardian] was appointed guardian of [W] <[D]> <[L]>. <[M]>

 

GUARDIAN:

 

[:CR:][:TAB:][R:Deceased Parent] has died, leaving [R:Ward] a ward of the state. [R:guardian] was appointed [R:Ward]'s guardian <[D]> <[L]>. <[M]>

 

Not exciting, but it works great. I also make the Guardian P1 and all the wards Witnesses.

[GenieAulogy 0]

Theresa, first of all, I'm sorry for your loss.

 

Thank you very much for posting your method. That's given me some ideas for further development of my own, as I hadn't thought about putting in the deceased parent's information. I appreciate your taking the time to post it

 

Regards,

Carol