Some of my clients don’t have to imagine this nightmare scenario because they lived it: Adult daughter, mentally ill and homeless, was picked up by police and eventually admitted to a psychiatric unit of a local hospital.
I’d like you to take the stand, Mr. McNeil.
I looked up from my legal pad at the judge. Me, your honor?
Please, she said.
But I’m not on trial here.
Literally, I’ll be the judge of that, she said. Take the stand.
These conflicts resulted in this elder lawyer being in court over the last few weeks:
1. Mom objected to daughters’ petition to have a professional guardian and conservator appointed for her.
2. Veteran objected to petition to have professional guardian appointed for him.
When I explain to friends that I do a lot of work for professional guardians, my friends often don’t know what to make of it. The thought of someone getting paid to make decisions for an unrelated person is foreign to them.
The guy got served with a guardianship petition and he objected to it, arguing that he was married and his wife could take care of him. His wife had gotten a restraining order against him.
While writing this article, I got a call from son. Mom had given him her power of attorney. He wanted advice regarding what he could do with his mom’s funds as part of a Medicaid eligibility plan for her.
Florence opened the door and invited me into her apartment. She pushed her walker to her chair by the window. Her knitting bag sat next to the chair and a knitted and faded afghan was draped over the back. I spun her walker around and sat on the cushioned seat, facing her.
The red flag ascends as soon as the caller says “I’m __________, and I’m calling for mom/dad.”
We waited at the curb with our big packs at our feet, cars backed up in front of us, dropping off passengers, picking some up. It took a while for my buddy’s wife to make her way through it but she made it. We threw our packs in the trunk and jumped in the car.
