Q: Have parent w/memory issues but won't go/talk to doctor for a diagnosis. How can we legally protect parent?
Parent can't remember where they are (at times) or how they got there. Incoherent conversation (mixes things up from the past & present or never happened). Threatens to leave and we won't be able to find them. Says ugly things to the family. Returns to familiar locations several times a week to purchase the same item(s) or goes to the bank because "someone has stolen the money". There are some good days, too.
A:
If your parent did not previously sign a durable power of attorney and a medical power of attorney, then you are in the unfortunate situation in which you will need to go to court to have yourself appointed as your parent's conservator and guardian.
Don't do this to your own family (your children). Pre-planning is a lot cheaper and easier.
James Edward Berge and Jeffrey Louis Gaffney agree with this answer
A:
You need a conservatorship. Your problem is that you need the parent to see a doctor to be evaluated before you can get a conservatorship.
Conservatorships take 4 months or so and can be little overwhelming. You need to convince the judge to take away this person's right to run their own life. I have never seen or even known of anyone to try that without a doctor's evaluation. It is one of the forms you file when you start one of these procedures.
The form is a Capacity Declaration. If the doctor has seen the parent within the last year, that is close enough -- you don't need a new evaluation is the doctor agrees that the parent is no longer capable of making their own decisions.
If the person's "good days" are really good and they agree to it, then instead of a conservatorship you can just do a Power of Attorney. But they have to be competent to make the decision or someone may come back at you and accuse you of wrong doing.
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