Re: One Day in the Life of a Wolf - Memorial 7-25-20
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:27 pm
Mac--
It's a good idea never to take anything for granted where money is involved. If your mother is sent to a nursing home and a government agency gets conservatorship over her affairs, then, unless your name is on the deed to the house, whoever gets control of her affairs might decide to start charging you rent. If you couldn't pay whatever they decide to charge, then you'd be evicted and might wind up unable to maintain a fixed residence.
If your mother has never been adjudged to be incompetent by a court of law, then she is probably still able to sign legal documents--it's difficult to get a court to find retroactively that someone was incompetent when they entered into an agreement. So, if your mother is considered the owner of the house, and you aren't, what you might do, is have your mother sign a legal document in which she grants you the right to reside in the house indefinitely without paying rent. It should be possible to do this for a few dollars, and your mother shouldn't have any objections to it. You're living there without being charged rent, anyway. A document of that type won't help you if the government gets conservatorship and decides to sell the house to pay your mother's expenses for Alzheimer's care. But you might be able to stay in the house until it's sold and possession is transferred to the new owner. If the building isn't sold, you should be able to stay indefinitely, though you'd better be ready to defend your legal rights.
Remember, anything which somebody agrees to and signs when the person is competent, remains in effect after the individual is judged to be incompetent, unless there was a specified time limit in the document. Being declared incompetent, doesn't give someone a clean slate and doesn't allow the person to start over without having to keep previous legal commitments. Otherwise, there would people lined up from here to Wauwatosa, trying to get themselves declared incompetent so they could get out of some harebrained deal they signed themselves into.
Another thing--you should realize that most conservatorships which are granted to a conservator who has no resources, or only small financial resources, are situations in which a husband or wife gets conservatorship over the spouse's affairs because of mental incompetence. Courts typically do this when the couple has been together for years, and the spouse who gets conservatorship is assumed to be responsible and reliable because of the long marriage bond. It's much less likely that a conservatorship will be granted to someone else, even to a relative, because the court will be skeptical about the motives of the person who is trying to get custody. They've seen too many people stripped of their assets by unscrupulous individuals. If you can get your mother's court-appointed lawyer on your side, your chances are better. Try to get a reasonably comprehensive idea of what the lawyer is going to say at the hearing.
I'd hope that MediCal approves some compensation for you for caring for your mom. Here, too, there might be problems. Agencies like that typically don't like to pay caregivers who haven't had experience in a regular nursing home, or who haven't had some type of verifiable training. If you have had either, make sure that they know about it.
The court that handles the conservatorship hearing, will want to confirm that you are financially responsible. It would be very much to your advantage to have some kind of income at the time the hearing is held, or to have some reasonable prospect of future income. If your teaching credentials are current, you might apply for a job at some of the local school districts, or at private schools. Teachers are in short supply--if your credentials are out of date, you still might be able to get a job offer as a teacher's aide. School doesn't start for a couple of months, so you wouldn't actually have to take the job if you have to keep caring for your mother full time. But it would help you get the conservatorship if the court thinks you will have an income in the near future. You should try to find some type of work-at-home arrangement where you can get some income. It doesn't have to be much, but it should look as though it is steady and you will be able to increase it. A lot of people do this type of thing, but you'd probably have to set it up on your own.
Whatever you do, if the court asks you what you'll do in the event that their are substantial unforeseen expenses after you get conservatorship, don't tell them that you'll take out a trust deed on the house. Figure out something else. The problem, of course, is that the court will think you might not be able to keep up payments on the TD loan, the house will go into foreclosure, and your mother's assets will be gone.
Hope you can find some way to make everything work out, and you can keep your mother out of a nursing home. From what I've seen of those institutions, they are the last place you want to send anyone to.
It's a good idea never to take anything for granted where money is involved. If your mother is sent to a nursing home and a government agency gets conservatorship over her affairs, then, unless your name is on the deed to the house, whoever gets control of her affairs might decide to start charging you rent. If you couldn't pay whatever they decide to charge, then you'd be evicted and might wind up unable to maintain a fixed residence.
If your mother has never been adjudged to be incompetent by a court of law, then she is probably still able to sign legal documents--it's difficult to get a court to find retroactively that someone was incompetent when they entered into an agreement. So, if your mother is considered the owner of the house, and you aren't, what you might do, is have your mother sign a legal document in which she grants you the right to reside in the house indefinitely without paying rent. It should be possible to do this for a few dollars, and your mother shouldn't have any objections to it. You're living there without being charged rent, anyway. A document of that type won't help you if the government gets conservatorship and decides to sell the house to pay your mother's expenses for Alzheimer's care. But you might be able to stay in the house until it's sold and possession is transferred to the new owner. If the building isn't sold, you should be able to stay indefinitely, though you'd better be ready to defend your legal rights.
Remember, anything which somebody agrees to and signs when the person is competent, remains in effect after the individual is judged to be incompetent, unless there was a specified time limit in the document. Being declared incompetent, doesn't give someone a clean slate and doesn't allow the person to start over without having to keep previous legal commitments. Otherwise, there would people lined up from here to Wauwatosa, trying to get themselves declared incompetent so they could get out of some harebrained deal they signed themselves into.
Another thing--you should realize that most conservatorships which are granted to a conservator who has no resources, or only small financial resources, are situations in which a husband or wife gets conservatorship over the spouse's affairs because of mental incompetence. Courts typically do this when the couple has been together for years, and the spouse who gets conservatorship is assumed to be responsible and reliable because of the long marriage bond. It's much less likely that a conservatorship will be granted to someone else, even to a relative, because the court will be skeptical about the motives of the person who is trying to get custody. They've seen too many people stripped of their assets by unscrupulous individuals. If you can get your mother's court-appointed lawyer on your side, your chances are better. Try to get a reasonably comprehensive idea of what the lawyer is going to say at the hearing.
I'd hope that MediCal approves some compensation for you for caring for your mom. Here, too, there might be problems. Agencies like that typically don't like to pay caregivers who haven't had experience in a regular nursing home, or who haven't had some type of verifiable training. If you have had either, make sure that they know about it.
The court that handles the conservatorship hearing, will want to confirm that you are financially responsible. It would be very much to your advantage to have some kind of income at the time the hearing is held, or to have some reasonable prospect of future income. If your teaching credentials are current, you might apply for a job at some of the local school districts, or at private schools. Teachers are in short supply--if your credentials are out of date, you still might be able to get a job offer as a teacher's aide. School doesn't start for a couple of months, so you wouldn't actually have to take the job if you have to keep caring for your mother full time. But it would help you get the conservatorship if the court thinks you will have an income in the near future. You should try to find some type of work-at-home arrangement where you can get some income. It doesn't have to be much, but it should look as though it is steady and you will be able to increase it. A lot of people do this type of thing, but you'd probably have to set it up on your own.
Whatever you do, if the court asks you what you'll do in the event that their are substantial unforeseen expenses after you get conservatorship, don't tell them that you'll take out a trust deed on the house. Figure out something else. The problem, of course, is that the court will think you might not be able to keep up payments on the TD loan, the house will go into foreclosure, and your mother's assets will be gone.
Hope you can find some way to make everything work out, and you can keep your mother out of a nursing home. From what I've seen of those institutions, they are the last place you want to send anyone to.
