<p>I’m sure someone here must have been through this – how does one get one’s parent declared incompetent, so as to invoke powers of attorney? My mother has been evaluated by two different facilities and has been found incompetent to make care decisions for herself, but they were not legal proceedings.</p>
<p>Anyone here know what needs to happen to have her declared legally incompetent? Does someone have to file a petition with a court (county court? state?) and introduce whatever evidence there is (pictures of the house alone should do it! But I’m thinking the paperwork from the care facilities regarding competence would be more of what the court is looking for)?</p>
<p>Owlice - Wow, I’m really sorry. If you don’t have a lawyer on retainer, perhaps you could ask at the local Probate Court. It wouldn’t hurt to start building a relationship there.</p>
<p>She used to have a column in the Seattle Times, but with cutbacks in columnists she established her own website and consulting service. She is a geriatric care manager.</p>
<p>You have to be very careful about applying for guardianship of your mother. Some courts award guardianship to non family members (agencies that specialize in elderly guardianship). There was a series of articles about how these agencies pay themselves first and place their elderly wards in pricey nursing homes until their assets are exhausted.</p>
<p>Did your mother sign a durable power of attorney giving any of her children the right to act for her? This type of document is good even after the signer is mentally incompetent.</p>
<p>Keep in mind every state is different and the advice you receive may not be applicable to your state.</p>
<p>Sorry. If it’s a question of going into court to get a person adjudicated incompetent, get an attorney locally. Web advice won’t possibly be good enough to DIY.</p>
<p>What we did was have my mother-in-law sign a power of attorney even though she was probably too incompetent to realize what she was up to. Then set up joint checking accounts and rerouted the mail so it no longer went to the house. We also had to change the phone number to an unlisted number. She’d become pray to all sorts of contests and lotteries and literally threw away tens of thousands of dollars.</p>
<p>I never knew my grandmother when I was younger – she used to be a much different person. A very shrewd investor – she went to a Chinese-language school (which was lower-class back then in our British-ruled colonial society) but she had the mentality of an i-banker. She became very wealthy – enough to purchase landed property (a status symbol in my birth country).</p>
<p>One day though, she made a wrong investment move and lost a six-figure amount. She was never the same after that – she had to move my mother’s family to a flat, etc. and started playing the lottery. Really excessively.</p>
<p>She hasn’t become incompetent, but it’s strange because looking at her humbled appearance now you wouldn’t have thought of her as a once-millionaire investor.</p>
<p>owlice, when you say she’s been evaluated by two different facilities, what kinds of facilities are you referring to? Was she a resident of one temporarily? I ask because you mention what her house looks like.</p>
<p>I also think before you can get very far with this, you will need some sort of physician’s documentation.</p>
<p>Does your county (or other local government entity) maintain a department of aging? If so, I’d start with a visit to their website, or a phone call, for accurate, timely information.</p>
<p>teri, yes, she was evaluated during her most recent hospital stay, when she was insisting she be allowed to go home (I don’t know that she could even get out of bed without help), and again in the care facility she ultimately went to, from which she’s recently been released (after agreeing to 24-hour care at home). </p>
<p>frazzled, her county does indeed have an aging department. Adult Protective Services within it is well-acquainted with her, as is her local police department and EMS folks. I will call them, though, to see how to proceed. They may be very happy to help, given her history with them!</p>
<p>(Basically, if a person is of sound mind, he/she can make decisions for him/herself, regardless of how foolish those decisions are. Can barely get out of bed, but still want to stay alone in your home? That’s okay – perfectly legal and nothing anyone can do about it, and if one falls on the floor and stays on it for four days, well, that’s life.)</p>
<p>Hunt, I’m sure spending time with a lawyer is in the near future!</p>