Tag Archives: elder exploitation

Guardianship Issues – Physician Certificates – Part 1

The guardianship process is a complex process with many moving parts. The very first step, however, can often be the most challenging. When a petition for guardianship is filed, you must file with it, proof of the person’s disability. This is a certificate completed by the disabled’s physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse practitioner, or licensed social worker (or a combination thereof). But, what happens when the disabled does not want to be examined for guardianship purposes? This is when it can lead to some complications.

Addressing a Complication

There may be several reasons why the disabled does not want to be examined. The first is that there is a person in the household who does not want the disabled to be examined. That could be the spouse of the disabled. Or, this could be another family member or caretaker who, for various reasons, may not want the disabled examined. These reasons could range from not acknowledging that the person is disabled to elder exploitation that the other member of the house wants to keep secret the extent of the person’s disability as to expose that disability may threaten their ability to get money from the disabled.

Person in the Household Refuses to Allow the Disabled to be Examined

If there is a person in the household that refuses to allow the disabled to be examined and there is a reason to believe the disabled may be at risk unless a guardian is a appointed, then the guardianship petitioner may ask the court for a hearing to force the disabled to be examined. This means that instead of the normal one hearing requirement, that there will be at least a two-hearing requirement. At this hearing, you will need to prove there has been a refusal for examination and prove the person may be at risk unless a guardian is appointed. If the court grants your request, they will then have the disabled examined by two physicians. If both physicians agree that the person is indeed disabled, then the case proceeds to the next hearing regarding who is to be appointed guardian.

But, what happens if there is no one else in the house and therefore the only person refusing is the disabled person herself? Stay tuned for the next blog entry.

Elder Exploitation

Our firm was recently successful in helping a family recover funds for an elderly mother and her adult disabled son who was subject to guardianship.  The person of interest was a neighbor who posed as an accountant to prepare the elder mother’s and her disabled son’s tax returns. Unknown to our client was that this this individual opened numerous accounts and credit cards and misappropriated over $100,000 worth of their assets. Our firm was successful in obtaining the return of those assets. We recently were informed by the family that the perpetrator was successfully prosecuted and is now serving a significant jail time for her actions in taking funds from our client and her disabled son.