What is the difference between POA and Guardian of an elderly person?
My 83 yr old father has been diagnosed with Dementia by his primary doctor, a social worker, and Psychiatrist. My sister and i were advised by all three professionals to get POA & Guardianship of our father ASAP. My father bought one automobile on March 2nd 2014, two later her traded this car in to the same dealership for a lease Rav-4, 2014. Less then a week, he decided that this vehicle had too many blind spots and traded this Vehicle down to a lower price leased car. My sister and I spoke to the dealership about my fathers mental condition. They informed us they would do some number crunching to explain how much money was spent after each transaction. My father is legally blind in one eye, and is being attended by an eye specialist presently. Dad's est. income per month is $2500.00. His only asset his a mobile home built 1985 and now this lease (24) months. In 2009 dad asked if I would go with him and put my name on his checking account to write checks as needed. I have not written one check since that time. I was able to find out the Balances Dad has in his Checking acct, Savings acct. and Money Market acct. Checking/savings accounts decreased close to $10,000.00 in two weeks. My sister and I investigated this at his bank only to find out that The first Car he bought was paid off with close to $22,000.00 which he does not own or have possession of. I am retired and allowed a curtain amount of money without filing taxes. My sister has POA rights only at time of his death. I have POA to write checks only for my father with his permission. My sister is telling me that she and I need to become POA and Guardian of our father ASAP. We all live in Ohio, same city so it will not be difficult to travel to an attorney's office if need be. Is there a limited amount of money that the elderly person has before they can get a Pro Bono attorney?
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POA is good, but guardianship is better, the trick is, if no one in your family opposes to you being the one.
Someone clearly needs to be in charge.
Your sister is right (are there any more siblings, who might object?) but there can only be one POA for finances(includes bank accounts and property) and one for medical (dr appointments, end of life, etc.).
There can only be one guardian which requires a petition, you can file yourself, in the court in the city/and or county you reside.
If your sister and you can agree who is to be the guardian, you can do it yourself with these words
I _____________(name)petition the court for guardianship of my
father,____________ name, _________date of birth ___________legal address,
who has been declared mentally incompetent by _________________dr, nurse
and social worker and needs help in managing his life, if the court grants me, i
intend to fulfill these duties and honor him to the best of my ability.
Make sure you bring those doc's that support, their findings
and the ex. of the car.
You will probably need to open a new account(with both names) with smaller balance that gives him a debit (that you control every month so he can purchase his gas and food without you) so that he still has freedom to do so.
If those doc's state that he was incompetent before he purchased his car, then leased a car, I believe if you show those doc's to the car dealership, copies of course, I think they might do the right thing to avoid being sued.
back of a car and didn't remember a thing about it, along with other poor driving
incidents. Good luck in the future, but give lots of hugs and understanding.
POA may not be an option if your dad is so far gone that he doesn't know what he is signing. The form will need to be signed by him and you in front of a notary public. Banks, doctor's offices, and insurance agencies often have one on staff. Check with them. Then be sure to file them with the court.
If POA is not an option, you will need to get guardianship which is a whole different process. You will need to have a lawyer for this. He will petition the court, a hearing will be held, and temporary guardianship will be assigned after you have passed a background check. Some states required some brief training of the guardian. Then, after about 2 months and another court hearing you will be assigned permanent guardianship. There is a 2 month wait just in case someone else wants to contest it and take over the guardianship themselves.
Cost of POA, basically just court costs. Cost of guardianship, $2000-$20000, maybe more if contested.