Portland, OR asked in Public Benefits for Oregon

Q: Finding a court appointed guardian for my mentally and physically handicapped sister to take over her finances.

She is currently on SSI. Her finances used to be taken care of by Whatcom Financial but once they had saved a small reserve for her she fired them and spent the money. She is out of groceries currently. She has homecare thru the state and Catholic Services. Her son lives with her as her caretaker. Recently his girlfriend has moved in without contributing and causing fighting. She is in a trailer park that doesn't allow people under 55 unless approved as caretakers. My brother and I are worried that the trailer park will evict him, the girlfriend or all of them. The son is also on SSI but now owns a truck without having a licence or registering the vehicle. Our sister has a history of being taken advantage of as she is at about the mental age of 10. My brother and I would like to prevent a disaster and we both live in different states. Thank you.

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: Chances are good that unless you or your brother or someone else care enough to apply for a guardianship or custodianship over her, there's not much that can be done to prevent her from having a rough life. You might want to talk with a local attorney about persuading her to come out to visit and seeking guardianship locally. Good luck.

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