Reply to Has anyone sought guardianship of their elderly parent...

Forum Index » Eldercare

Reply to "Has anyone sought guardianship of their elderly parent... "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]You might consider meeting with his physician without him, if that can be arranged, to describe the concerning behaviors and your request for a certification of mental incompetence.  Otherwise, you can write a letter which notes your concerns and your position as successor trustee (assuming you are the successor trustee).

The physician will likely want to examine the patient before possibly agreeing to your request.  Dementia is a spectrum; the key issue is usually whether the individual understands the meaning and consequences of their actions, rather than merely expressing idiosyncratic personality traits which have been there all along.  A person can be more or less physically ok, can carry on a conversation, but be fundamentally irrational, delusional, and/or incapable of managing their daily affairs like paying bills, scheduling medical appointments when needed or even recognizing the need for them, etc.  They may be unable to drive safely due to impaired judgment, if not due to physical issues like slowing reaction times, limited dexterity and vision, etc.

The existing diagnosis of Alzheimer's gets you most of the way there.  You want to provide the triggering language in the trust to the physician, asking that it be repeated in the letter declaring that the patient meets those specific criteria, e.g., is unable to manage his own affairs, is mentally disabled, or whatever language the trust includes to define the trigger which can bring in the successor trustee.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics