Do They Need A Guardian?

So yesterday maybe you visited your Dad or are a Dad on Father’s Day. How did it go? Do you think it is time to make changes in your life? His Life? Is it the time that he needs a guardian? Right now over 59 million   people are senior citizens and that number is rising. Not everyone is going to remain sharp and self-sufficient in their old age. So, there is a system in place called Guardianship. A Guardian is someone appointed by the court to act on the behalf of an individual who is under a mental or physical disability and as a result is unable to make sensible decisions for their care or property. So, if you saw Dad acting weird or not taking care of himself lately should this be an option?

The thing with Guardianship is that it is the court that appoints someone to take care of the old guy that can’t take care of himself anymore and needs lots of help. It could be a family member or if the family is fighting they could appoint a professional who is paid to manage Dad’s affairs. It is a good intentioned program but lots could go wrong even when the whole Guardianship thing is designed to help. Dad suddenly doesn’t have any say in his life anymore. A court appointed stranger could knock on his door and suddenly he will be told to go to a psychiatric facility or a nursing home   even if it is against his will. A Guardian will also have control over your life style and your assets or money.

About 1.3 million people are currently under the guidance of Guardianship or conservatorship now. Many seniors hate the program and would like to have alternatives that promote greater self-determination.  Once you have a Guardian you lose your right to vote or   get married.  Guardianship is a massive intrusion into a person’s life. Is that court appointed person motivated to look after you by care or greed? In fact under Guardianship you can lose more rights than someone who goes to prison. A Guardian has full control over your money and can bill you for each individual service they provide and can take payment right out of your bank account. So, that kind of power over you can lead to lots of abuse eventually cleaning out your bank account as they claim they clean up after you. They can even charge you for opening up your junk mail.

One Guardian took an old guy to a basketball game and charged his bank account over $1,000 dollars for research, tickets, telephone calls and a limo. The guardian even charged over $200 to determine the mood on the old guy. One guardian charged $1,500 in fees in court filings and transportation to court. Charged $100 for stretch pants. There are guardians who have over 100 people to care for at a single time. They even get away with over 100 hours per day in billing which is physically impossible. Even when you die some shady guardians will charge the estate for storing your ashes even in just a storage rental unit!!!

Eventually bad Guardians do get arrested on felony charges for racketeering, theft, exploitation or perjury but the storage unit thing was fine according to the courts. UGH! We don’t even have say a Federal Bureau of Guardian Oversight. Well maybe Congress should be doing something about that too. Or T-Rump our old dinosaur   ass hole President could sign a bill for that too. Guardianship is the responsibility of state and local courts. Anyone can be a Guardian and it was found that over 3,000 folks were dead and were still being billed for services rendered.

Only 12 states even require that Guardians be certified as a professional caretaker. So, your drunken brother can be a Guardian for Dad and have the inheritance pay for all his beer. We do have a GEO a Government Accountability Office that found that many Guardians have felony criminal records. What other job can you be in charge of all the money available without a background check or any accountability? All of this lack of oversite is a shame when the elderly get taken advantage of. Let’s really take care of Dad. Require greater regulation, and approve more funding for more oversight. Take care of Dad and Mom too.