Family & Safety
Worried about doing this on your own? You may be able to get free legal help.
In Illinois, if you become a guardian for someone with a disability, you have to take an online training course within the first year of becoming a guardian. After you finish the course, you'll get a certificate. You need to send this certificate to the court within one year of the date when you were officially appointed as a guardian. Look at your court order to find the date you were appointed and make sure you complete the training and send in the certificate before the year is up. The court order will tell you that you need to do this training.
Also, if you're a guardian, you need to fill out a form called the Annual Reporting Regarding Ward (ARRW) every year. Since the court won't remind you, it's a good idea to set reminders for yourself. It's your job to make sure you submit this form on time.
Being a guardian is an important job. To make sure you do everything you're supposed to, follow these steps to meet all the legal requirements.
After a judge makes you the guardian for an adult with disabilities go to the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission website. You need to finish your training within one year from the day the court appointed you. Follow the instructions on the website to sign up with your email address.
You can look at the training without signing up. However, if you don't register, you won't get the certificate you need to send to the judge each year. So, make sure you register and log in.
Once you have registered, you should follow the instructions to complete the annual training. You will be asked a series of questions. If you answer a question incorrectly, you can try again. You may do so until you select the correct answer.
After you finish the training, you'll need to enter some details to complete it. You'll be asked for the circuity court, county, case number, and the name of the adult with a disability. Make sure to fill in all this information.
After you finish the training, you'll be asked to download your Certificate of Training Completion. You need to mail this certificate to the judge who appointed you as a guardian within one year. Check your court order to see if you need to send it to someone else instead.
If you worked with a legal aid organization (for example, CVLS) to obtain guardianship, you may also be required to send a copy of the certificate to that organization.
Guardians need to fill out an ARRW form each year. If you are appointed a guardian in Cook County, you can get a blank copy of this form here. Save this link on your computer or cellphone so you can easily find and use the form each year to send to the judge.
If you are a guardian in another county other than Cook County, you can google "county name + guardian annual report" to obtain the specific reports for each county and instructions to mail them. (Lake County, Kane County, McHenry County, DuPage County)
The ARRW form asks about the adult with the disability’s condition, living arrangement, services they receive, and why guardianship should be continued.
After you fill out the form, you need to mail your Annual Report to the judge who appointed you as a guardian each year. Check your court order to find the judge's address. You don't need to go to court if you mail the report. If you got help form a legal aid organization (like CVLS), you might also need to send a copy of the report to them.
The court does not send a reminder or copies of the report. Make sure to set a reminder for yourself.
Worried about doing this on your own? You may be able to get free legal help.
