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"Plucked from the warmth and security of your home. Thrust into the unknown like an animal from the tundra to a cage in a zoo."
Conservatorships - Sometimes necessary, and sometimes YOU are the subject of the conservatorship, which may be counter to your wishes...
By Susan B. Geffen
Imagine you are living alone and you love where you live.
Imagine that you are busy doing what you do and what you have done for years before.
Imagine that by all accounts you are not using good safety judgment and it is noticeable to all who surround you.
Also imagine (bear with me) that you did not get my newsletters so you never anticipated that the day may come when one of your children will move you out of your home with the permission of the court!
Plucked from the warmth and security of your home and thrust into the unknown like an animal from the tundra to a cage in a zoo.
It will be assumed that you are disoriented and that you will not experience or understand the changed scenery. But who really knows what goes on in the mind of someone who is cognitively challenged?
I do not presume to "get" what I have not experienced. From working with people who have dementia, I do know that it is very stressful for them to be treated this way. Relocation stress syndrome (RSS) is real and disproportionately impacts those who are afflicted with this indiscriminate dignity stripper.
Is this avoidable? Yes. Yes. Yes. However, to be clear, it is not my position that it is safe for everyone to remain in their home. These days it may not even be affordable.
It is my position, however, that doing this to another individual should require an in-depth assessment of that person's finances and health as well as an assessment of the proposed conservator's "agenda."
As an elder law attorney who has been intimately involved in Conservatorships (on both sides) it is my experience that the probate courts do not do this very well. It is my experience that because the court is heavily impacted, there is a rush to defer to the recommendations of the volunteer probate attorney (assigned to be the advocate for the proposed conservatee). Most often, this person does not take the time or interest to roll-up his or her proverbial sleeves and unpeel the layers of the onion to make solid, informed recommendations.
In many instances this volunteer attorney tells the judge that proposed conservatee consents to the placement in a facility and to the appointment of a particular conservator, when in order to get before the judge in the first place one must lodge a declaration of incapacity filled-out by a treating physician.
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