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Co-Guardianship in Indiana (Family Law)

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 09:44:00 GMT
Tags: alzheimers, aunt, co-guardianship, diagnosed, family, indiana, law, married, together, uncle

Can someone help?

My Aunt and Uncle have been together over 30 years and married since 1980's. In 1999 my uncle was diagnosed with Alzheimers. My aunt cared for him at home and was offered help from his two daughters. She believed the arrangements of giving one land to build on next door, etc was in exchange for helping her with her husband (their father). The years and caregiving went on with no real help from the daughters, ( They went with her for doctor visits occasionally) He was hard to handle and became agressive with Alzheimers, INSTEAD the daughters went to a small county judge with out my aunts knowledge, Lied and said he was an unmarried man and received Guardianship papers!!!! They used them immediately to move him out of his house.

My Aunt was an exhausted caregiver who believed the daughters. They came one day and packed them up to go to a private assisted living arrangement. She became confused on how this happened and knew nothing about the claims of her husband being unmarried. The bills were behind, the house was going into foreclosure and the girls merely stepped in stripping her of her husband. They never researched financial options, selling the house etc. Instead merely went to court and lied so they could determine who my uncle was going to live with. The youngest daughter wanted him to come live with her. He was in need of professional care and my aunt was wearing herself out delivering his daily care so the assisted living was a way my aunt could stay with him. ( However, this plan was not well thought out, they did not have the money, yet the money was being taken from the pension and ss checks to pay for this arrangement. My aunt did not understand what was going on especially when they had her sign papers of responsibility for the payment.
(Which in fact she was sued for years later and has a judgement against her for over $20,000)

When my aunt called us with her concerns, we immediately contacted an attorney on her behalf, in the same town as the court that gave the guardianship. HE EXPLAINED THAT THE GIRLS HAD GONE TO COURT AND CLAIMED HE WAS AN UNMARRIED MAN so she had to go to court to prove he wasn't. UNBELIEVABLE to his brothers, sisters and wife! He has been somewhat heplful as she has no extra money and convinced her that a co-guardianship with one of the daughters was the best way to resolve this. we believe it was because he knew there was no more money for him to get paid. The daughters were allowed to do this without recourse and the judge never even required proof that he was unmarried.

During the court battles, the judge hired a local (same town) accountant to be guardian of finances and even had adult protective services involved to investigate. The guardian of finances (exhausting the assets) did handle the sale of the property and division of assets and tax returns for the time he was guardian. When it was all gone (financially) the next step would be applying for medicaid.

The adult protective services report was favorable for my aunt and uncle. They found unhappy stepdaughters and a tired wife. At this point he needed full time nursing home arrangements.

The judge was petitioned by the attorneys(this was the recommedation of the attorneys) to allow one daughter and my aunt to be CO-GUARDIAN of the person, and the court appointed Acccountant who was acting as guardian of finances was removed an in place was one daughter and myself (niece) as Co Guardian of finances. At that point they had no money and what was left was used to hire an attorney to get my uncle qualified for Medicaid for his long term nursing home needs.

The medicaid arrangements were made, they now pay a patient liability (computed by dept of family services) which is the only finance resposibility left of the coguardians of finances with exception of taxes, yet my aunt is responsible for them since he is disabled.

It seemed to be going ok, not good, yet seemed to be civil until my aunt could not attend a meeting in winter of 2005 with the nursing home and caseworker of DCF. ( she was ill and the nursing home that he was in was over an hour away) The winter months are hard for her to drive in and she ended up hosptitalize with pneumonia. the daughter went to all meetings saying she was the guardian and seemed to enjoy that my aunt could nto make it.

Consequently, missing of that meeting, the Co-Guardian daughter, handled the reviews with Dept of Children and Family services and the nursing home, AND had the mailing address changed from mine to hers, and then by JANUARY of 2006 we noticed we were not getting anymore mail, the insurance was not paying on my aunt's medical etc, I called the benefits dept only to learn that the daughter had changed the password for me to get info. When she was confronted she claims she never did such a thing. We had to spend countless hours proving to Chrysler benefits that the wife is co guardian and that her medical insurance was changed. They determined she had been left off of the paperwork when the address was changed. Imagine that! They also say she is not eligible for an attorney thru Chrysler benefits so she must figure this out alone.

It contiuned and I was persistant only to find that the daughter had also found a missing IRA, The daughter faxed me the 1099 to a annuity that I knew nothing about along with TAX NOTICES ( The IRS actually told me about it the money in an annuity). When I asked her about it she again claimed she knew nothing about it!!!

My aunt needed physical rehabilitation and the doctor recommended she do it here in Florida (Where I live) so she can have her immediate family support. The Physical needs and her emotional needs are best supported with family since her husband is diabled.

We had her come here to Florida and upon finishing her rehabilitation we convinced her to move here. That is when I was able to get the addresses changed back, her bills paid properly etc... I went to work on the TAX issues. By that time the Social Security checks were being levied for back taxes ( Even taxes that the court appointed guardian during the battle was suppose to do).

During the investigation of this annuity we found the checks were mailed to the daughter ( that is why the address was changed) and they had been cashed ( at the end of 2005 ). She continued to say prove it! So my aunt sent money to the bank for a copy of one of the checks ( she could not afford to get copys of all of the checks) When she had that proof the coguardian finally contacted her old attorney and that attorney contacted my aunt's attorney. The attorney confirmed that yes, the daughter cashed the checks
(she never deposited them) she put the cash in her safe and has never reported or deposited it. She knows that my aunt or I would have to take her to court ( in the same court that allowed her to say he was unmarried in the beginning) and there is no money for court hearings.

The annuity was cashed ( even though we had to jump thru hoops to prove she is his wife) to pay for back taxes due (there are still taxes due) the DCF was informed of the situation and the new spousal arrangements for living expenses were computed. There were changes in patient liability due to her leaving Indiana and moving to Florida where her living expenses increased.

By Aug she was on her feet again and travelled back to see her husband, she was overwhelmed at leaving him in Indiana, she spoke with my uncles siblings and they encouraged her to ask the doctor about moving him to Florida to be near her. He needs her ans she needs him. To have this disease and stripped of your family as you knew it is so sad.The doctor has no problem with it, she began researching nursing homes and asked them to call the daughter ( she spoke with the daughter and she refuses to allow it) The nursing homes do not want to get involved in a family dispute and claim they need both guardians to agree....

YET....

The saga continues... The Co-Guardian daughter gives no regard to the wife. She claims to be so caring and yet she does not even notify my aunt of any medical reviews or needs. We find out after the fact when the insurance statements come in showing how much was paid. Now my aunt has just learned he underwent outpatient dental surgery with general anstheic without her even being inofrmed ( not the first time) When she calls the nursing home, they say they forgot, when she called the dentist, The dentist says in Indiana a coguardian can have procedures done without the consent of the other, even tho it may not be ethical, that is Indiana law, according to her husband who is an attorney.

Do both guardians have to agree, and why is it only one is allowed to make decisions without the other?

If it is legal for one to make decisions without the other why can't my aunt move him without her approval?

Can a Co Guardianship be moved from one county to another to have a non involved judge oversee(one who made an error in giving guardianship in the beginning to daughters?) It started with a lie to a judge, he is told the truth, he does nothing instead took her rights to her husband without reason or proof. Although they gave her CO- Guardianship, it obviously means nothing.

I know this is long yet she really needs answers, does she have any hope?

The attorney is kind yet without money is not real aggressive.

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  • Comments
  • Tue, 23 Jan 2007 11:13:00 GMT(1)
  • Can a judge make the decision to remove a co guardian and then at the same time allow it to be moved? In other words, One petition for all requests or do they prefer a seperate petition for each request?
  • Tue, 16 Jan 2007 18:31:00 GMT(2)
  • If these are court-appointed co-guardians and they cannot agree, either can petition the court which appointed them to resolve the dispute.
  • Wed, 17 Jan 2007 09:14:00 GMT(3)
  • Thanks and we do understand that yet my aunt has no money and the daughter knows this. It seems only those with the money will get anywhere
  • Tue, 08 May 2007 06:11:00 GMT(4)
  • Months have gone by as we have tried to work thru this with the attorney, I have contacted the court via letter (petition) and the court has agreed to a hearing. We have asked for my uncle to be moved. The petition did not include that the coguardian has taken money from my uncle. Per attorney the issue will draw out court hearings longer and my uncle really deserves to be near his wife as his stages progress. I had to decide what is most important his PERSONAL NEEDS or his money and of course his personal needs prevail!

    We asked for one of two things. One to move the guardianship to the county where his wife lives or to the county where he lives. Either way we are hoping to have new guidance as the caregiver wife has regained her strength after years of court battles. He deserves better!

    Do judges find it inappropriate to bring the missing money issue in court or should we just focus on my uncle's nursing home move?
    rkk
  • Tue, 23 Jan 2007 11:24:00 GMT(5)

  • Quoting rkk

    Can a judge make the decision to remove a co guardian and then at the same time allow it to be moved? In other words, One petition for all requests or do they prefer a seperate petition for each request?

    Put everything you want in one petition.

    Google judicial economy.
  • Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:11:00 GMT(6)
  • Thanks for your reply,

    The ward "being my uncle" lives in a nursing home in a county different from where the Guardianship was agreed upon. My aunt lives in a different state.

    I am assuming that means we would need to petition a court in the county in which he lives, yet she is very limited to funds for such. She would like to move him to Florida near her and everyone (except the co-guardian daughter) agrees. The co-Guardian does what ever she wants with no consequence and every one in my uncles familycontinues to ask me why my aunt can't do the same. I feel she was coherced into co guardianship as the attorney assured us that they had to both agree on decisions. And he assured me that the daughter and I had to agree on financial decisions
    ( although there isnothing to agree on with Medicaid) and the daughter still cashed checks, admitted it and refuses to repay.

    The attorney my aunt used just handles the question passively and says let's try to talk with the daughter, that has been over 3 months ago and there is no talking, she outright refuses to discuss. Instead she continues to make his decisions without discussion with my aunt.

    Is there such a thing a legal aid for elderly? I feel so helpless and I know my uncle wouldnot want this. he loves his wife and needs her.
  • Tue, 23 Jan 2007 07:02:00 GMT(7)
  • 1.How does one request the court to move the supervision to a new county?

    2.How does one petition the court to remove a co-guardian if they find them not handling the co guardianship appropriately?

    You need to file petitions with the court; this is a document saying you want the supervision moved to another county and that you think the co-guardian is not doing the job correctly.

    There will then be a hearing by the judge to take up the matter to see who is right.
  • Tue, 16 Jan 2007 16:18:00 GMT(8)
  • Guardianships would normally exist where the ward is situated. If the ward has moved to a different county, there may be grounds to move the court supervision to the new county.
  • Tue, 23 Jan 2007 05:56:00 GMT(9)

  • Quoting aaron

    Guardianships would normally exist where the ward is situated. If the ward has moved to a different county, there may be grounds to move the court supervision to the new county.



    1.How does one request the court to move the supervision to a new county?

    2.How does one petition the court to remove a co-guardian if they find them not handling the co guardianship appropriately?
  • Leave a Comment Now.

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