Thinking of obtaining guardianship for my mom. She is in a nursing home. Wondering what the drawbacks could be to that? Will the doctors leave her out of conversation about her medical care? Will the nurses ignore some of my mom's requests? Such as occasionally letting her sleep in if she requests? What would they do if my mom refused a medication? If some meds are scheduled PRN, and my mom requests a pain pill, will they refuse her because someone has guardianship over her (she was deemed incompetent).
Take care,
Carol
Guardianship would help you take care of her affairs. It can be a hassle to get but it certainly is nothing to be afraid of.
The disadvantages of guardianship are several. The process requires a petition to the court filed by an attorney, back up documentation from doctors, may involve a full neuropsych exam, may be contested, and in the end a scheduled hearing in probate court has to be scheduled and attended with the ward and potential guardian. The cost of this is I think at least $4-5,000. It can be more when there is family infighting or the ward fights. In the end all legal bills are paid back by the ward. There is annual reporting required to the state, and if you are conservator there will be a bond required which costs money every year (to give you an idea, $200,000 in assets requires an annual bond fee of $1000.
One thing it does not do is take away the wards ability to speak for themselves, and you are supposed to take their needs and wants into consideration in all your decisions, so your mom would not lose the ability to choose the things you mention, although they may phone to ask about it more often.
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