Residency when parent is in a nursing home facility?

I'm not doing guardianship, but for legal purposes, I keep my mother's official address as her house, and her mailing address is my house. She's been in a nursing home for nearly three years, too.

It's a nightmare to have any mail go to the nursing homes, so if the guardianship procedures require it as your mom's permanent address, so be it, but her mailing address should be yours.

Keep an eye on that voter registration, too. Right after my mom moved to her first nursing home, her absentee ballot arrived at her house with races not for the town where the house lives but for the one where the nursing home is. Someone in the nursing home went around and signed up people to vote, including my demented mother. They didn't change her address, or I'd have never known. 😠

For the record, too, in California at least, a POA cannot sign a ballot for a voter. I work the elections, so it's a no-no here.

This was a discussion during the Presidential Election. Does a person have the right to vote with Dementia and can the POA fill in the absentee ballot. Don't think we ever came to an answer. This I would talk to your local election board about. If she can't vote then wouldn't her registration card be voided. I don't even have a registration card. I signed up 50 yrs ago and have lived in many places since in the same town.

Your Moms home is now the Nursing Home. She is a resident not a patient. As such, its her legal address. My question would be is why with POA are you going for guardianship which is very expensive. Is someone questioning you POA? With guardianship you will be taking on even more responsibility because then you have to report to the State.

Your home address is likely her mailing address. She should be able to have her election materials and state ID sent there. I have mine sent to a PO Box in CA, where I live.

Election law is very specific about who is eligible to vote where, by determining where they lived on a specific date. If she is in a residential facility, that is almost certainly her residence. Unless it is extremely close to your home, it likely falls in a different city council seat, school district, or something.

State ID law is likely just as specific about how residency is determined. They want to know where to find people if they need to.

If you dig into it, you can probably track down the specifics in her jurisdiction.

The law is what it is. The court that handles the guardianship case will be all about the law.