In the second case, your family member, let's call her Sue, is involved in
an accident. She's hurt, but is still alive. If the hospital needs to give
her a shot and she says no, the hospital cannot give her the shot, even if
it is in her best interest. All of this can happen if you don't have
guardianship. Additionally, without guardianship, you will find out
about the accident when Sue tells you or when you read about it in
the paper.
I already mentioned a situation which deals with the third case. Another
possible situation is where your family member, Fred, decides he is going to
buy a house and live by himself. If Fred is over 21 (18 in some states) and
he has not had a guardian appointed, he can buy a house and live by himself.
You can try and talk him out of it, but, unless you have guardianship, there
is nothing more you can do. If you try to physically restrain him, he can
call the police and have you arrested!
Fred can also stop taking all of his medicine. He can give his money to
whomever he wants. Fred can do anything he wants to do, as long as it is
not illegal, without guardianship.
Even though it can be costly to get guardianship, over $1000 in some states,
it's well worth it. It's worth it for you and for your family member.
Illinois offers sliding scale legal fees to those on limited incomes. I'm
sure other states do the same. To find out who can help you, look up
"attorneys" in your yellow pages.
To find out more about the different types of guardianship, check out the
link to the ARC.
The ARC - Guardianship and other important information
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