Max Rockatansky
Die dulci freure
I live with an elderly relative whose health has been deteriorating. One night, she fell, and she could not get up. The next morning, I called an ambulance and she was taken to the local hospital. She had suffered from hypothermia, but she recovered. After over four weeks in a hospital and in a rehab center, she returned home. I was rather surprised that she could barely walk. As she had earlier done, she stayed in her easy chair for most of the time, getting up only a few times in two weeks. At the end of that time, she fell and she refused to let me get help for her. But I did, and she was hospitalized again. After being sent to a rehab center, she was sent to an adult foster home, and she has remained there.
But during her second hospitalization, something curious happened. A certain guardianship company petitioned the county court system to get legal guardianship over that elderly relative. That guardianship would involve taking over her assets, like her house and her bank account. I filed an objection to that proposal, and I claimed in it that it would be more appropriate for me to be her guardian. That elderly relative also filed an objection, though a much shorter one, without any attempt to demonstrate that she is mentally competent. This issue went to a hearing in the county court, and then into a trial.
The judge decided on the guardianship company.
I am now dependent on the guardianship company for paying the house bills and food-shopping bills.
That elderly relative wants to appeal that decision, but I don't have much confidence that that effort will get very far.
I've heard of California doing that. One lady has "guardianship" over 100 clients and was billing all of them for the same hours of work. She was raking in a ton of cash until someone filed suit. The report said she claimed it was an "oversight" and returned some money.