See an elder law attorney. Some suggest you can go directly to court to petition: I have seen BurntCaregiver post on just that and you might want to hope she sees your post, or you might want to send her a private message. I am unaware of how to do that. Guardianship is likely only going to be granted if the person is completely incompetent and if they fight this, then it can be very very costly, and can go on for some time as the court will appoint them an attorney. The system is very very hesitant to take our rights over own own choices away. You will need to know that you will have to work with SS to be representative payee (a separate process) and with IRS separately often enough, will have to keep meticulous records of assets, actions, expenses. It is NOT an easy job nor one to be undertaken lightly. Go to the top timeline on this page, look for the magnifying glass which is the search symbol, type in guardianship for more information and google guardianship process for your own state. If the elder is competent to know what he or she is doing they can give you POA to act for them if they wish to do so. Also know if there are siblings, husbands or wives who will FIGHT you on this, my advice is run the other way as fast as you can or be ready for one WORLD OF WOE. If you have other specific questions do ask.
It is very expensive, it is a process and the court will order medical/psychological exams of the person you want guardianship over. They are served papers. They can fight you over this. You will be TOTALLY responsible for the person should you win. Someone, not necessarily you, will have to account for this person's finances/spending with reports being filed to the court. The person will have not even have the right to vote anymore.
It is not a nice process. My brother and I consulted with an attorney about guardianship of our mom and decided not to pursue it. We decided it would be better to just let her self destruct than go through with applying for guardianship.
My dad is 94 years old. I was awarded guardianship and conservatorship of my dad 2-1/2 years ago at the urging of APS. At that time, he was not capable of making good decisions for himself and was still living in his house. He has dementia and someone reported him to Adult Protective Services. He fought the guardianship in court but we settled the terms of the guardianship with his attorney before a hearing was scheduled. I have been involved in his care for 6 years now. This has been a roller coaster I do not wish on anyone. Think long and hard before you take this on. How much do you want your life interrupted? Are you OK being on-call 24/7? You will make all of the decisions for him. You will be the primary contact for all doctors, hospitals, assisted living, etc. Are you married? How much is your spouse willing to support you on this? This will take time away from home. When he needs a doctor appointment or needs to go to the hospital, you will be expected to drop everything and go. This has caused a lot of problems in my marriage not to mention continual phone calls from my dad. He hates that I have control. Up until Covid, I was visiting every Saturday which took time away from family. Just because you have guardianship does not mean your loved one will not still hold control. My dad is a bit of a control freak anyway and insisted on staying in his house. He would not let me move him. It finally came down to him having to be hospitalized and the hospital saying he could not go back home. That was in Sept. of 2019. We finally got him to assisted living but he insisted on extra caregivers coming in 3 days a week plus having one of his cars there for them to drive (getting him from out behind the wheel is another whole story) so he could be out and about every day. Broken down car which he would not let me get fixed, complaining caregivers, a nightmare. It was not until Covid when no caregivers or myself were allowed to visit that I was finally able to get a grip on the whole guardianship thing. No more caregivers, no more visits, and having to stay in his room caused his health to go south, which was not good, but he is now in skilled nursing. He cannot use a walker anymore and is in a wheelchair and his dementia is much worse. As his conservator, I am also responsible for the money and the recordkeeping that goes along with it. (this is actually the easy part for me). When dad was living in his house and in assisted living, he insisted on being part of all banking transactions and keeping a large amount of cash himself and would come totally unhinged when I tried to manage everything. This may sound harsh, but since he has been in skilled nursing, I have finally been able to 'get him out of the way' so I can do my duties as guardian and conservator appropriately. Would I take on guardianship again if asked knowing what I know now? No way. But I have 3 other siblings who wouldn't step up so this has all fallen on me. His house sits empty and now deciding whether to sell it but we'll take a tax hit. Dad will never allow it and unfortunately because of the guardianship, he will get notice from the court if I seek permission to sell his house which will start an entire new meltdown so I haven't decided what to do yet. If I was you, I would think long and hard before I take this on. It has not been good for my relationship with him. I seem to get all of the 'crap' phone calls while my siblings continue to get enjoyable calls from him (we compare notes.)
Guardianship is likely only going to be granted if the person is completely incompetent and if they fight this, then it can be very very costly, and can go on for some time as the court will appoint them an attorney. The system is very very hesitant to take our rights over own own choices away. You will need to know that you will have to work with SS to be representative payee (a separate process) and with IRS separately often enough, will have to keep meticulous records of assets, actions, expenses. It is NOT an easy job nor one to be undertaken lightly.
Go to the top timeline on this page, look for the magnifying glass which is the search symbol, type in guardianship for more information and google guardianship process for your own state.
If the elder is competent to know what he or she is doing they can give you POA to act for them if they wish to do so.
Also know if there are siblings, husbands or wives who will FIGHT you on this, my advice is run the other way as fast as you can or be ready for one WORLD OF WOE.
If you have other specific questions do ask.
It is not a nice process. My brother and I consulted with an attorney about guardianship of our mom and decided not to pursue it. We decided it would be better to just let her self destruct than go through with applying for guardianship.