The situation with my mother is reaching a point where action will have to be taken some time soon. I have been poring over legal volumes, but I would like to have some information from someone in California who has personally dealt with this matter, so I know what I will have to deal with before approaching an attorney or setting a date to go to court at such time as this becomes necessary. She is 87 and is not becoming any more lucid.
I would think the first step would be to contact a California attorney who specializes in conservatorship law and who can explain the process and what you will need to deal with.
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Since this involves potential legal matters, it is better suited to IMHO. Any factual information on the topic is of course still welcome in this thread.
Moving thread from GQ to IMHO.
Is your mother willing to have you as conservator, or is this something you would be asking the court to grant against her will? If she is willing to enter into the conservatorship, there may be alternatives that are cheaper & easier (power of attorney, advanced directives, trusts, etc).
Not exactly your question, but before thinking of going to court, has your mother’s mental health been assessed by a gerontologist? Because what you perceive as mental incompetence might not be judged as such by a specialized MD.
My own mother is 91 and not becoming any more lucid either, but while we’re presented every day with evidences of her inability to take care of her own affairs or to understand rather simple things, of her growing paranoia, of her delusions and mental confusion, she still appears lucid enough to outside observers for medical experts to consider her as still competent.
Actually, power of attorney had been my first choice; my aunt–my mother’s sister–had suggested “guardianship,” and I know conservatorship is the proper term when the person in question is an adult.
I would want to convince my mother that she should have an appointment with a proper medical professional, and seek to effect my appointment with power of attorney as that professional recommends.
I would absolutely go that route before conservatorship. We looked into these options for my elderly inlaws a few a years ago. A conservatorship is very involved–you first have to file a petition with the court, then there is an investigation, a hearing, and if the judge grants the conservatorship, you would have an ongoing duty to report for regular interviews with the court investigator (at least that’s the process in CA). IOW it is VERY cumbersome and expensive.
What we did instead (and you would have to have your mother’s buy in for this) is set up Power of Attorney for finances, healthcare, etc, so we managed their affairs completely, but did not have to go through the courts and were not subject to ongoing reviews. The only way we would have gone the conservator route is if my inlaws refused our help & we had no other choice but to have the courts intervene to save them from themselves. POA simply involves meeting with a lawyer to complete the paperwork.
To Enola Gay: Thanks for the advice. I’ll bring this up to the lawyer and see if I can get my Mom to agree to an appointment with a gerontologist, if that’s the right specialist.
I’m in Virginia, not California, but in my state you have to file yearly accountings in which you keep track of every penny that is spent. Part of that involves keeping receipts, invoices, and just about every piece of paper. I can’t imagine that the process in California would be any less.
It’s a pretty expensive process to become someone’s conservator. I’d avoid it if at all possible.
Here in the UK, I was a guardian for my aunt. It all had to be registered under the Office of the Public Guardian. It was a lot of work but it was the right thing to do. She did not have a suitable Power of Attorney set up before she lost her faculties.