Guardian of a mentally ill adult….anyone do this

[Ottakee]

I have been asked to become the guardian of a mentally ill adult.   Has anyone here done this?

i am currently guardian of 3 young adults with developmental disabilities but the mental illness part is different.

Is the guardian liable say if they get in a car accident or do something dumb?

I am well versed in the reporting for Social security, DHHS, etc.

Also, if you are guardian, are you expected/required to attend all doctors appointments/counseling, etc?   I have a full time, school year job.

[Katy]

I think you need to consult with a local attorney first.

[Faith-manor]

Here is the state statute about guardianship of an adult.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(m0m2rw125kv33el44ypq0kvd))/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-700-5314

It doesn't specifically outline the liability of the guardian should the mentally ill person cause an accident or commit a crime.  The fact that it doesn't address this would be a cause for concern in my mind. The person who wants you to do this should pay for you to speak with an attorney who specializes in this area, probably someone with elder care, dependent adult care, guardianship issues. I suspect, as litigious as our society is, the guardian could absolutely be sued. Whether or not there is a basis for judgement against the guardian is another matter.

When my father was mentally ill and violent, though I did not have guardianship of him, since my mom was injured, Mark and I were caring for him, our attorney told us there was some default liability that we could potentially experience but that he honestly thought local judges would throw out any lawsuit against us. I won't regale you with the details except to say he did some stuff, and I ended up spending many thousands of dollars defending myself against lawsuits because our income looked like a nice nest egg to go after from blood sucking, ambulance chasing lawyers, not to mention that he committed a crime during that time and the prosecutor tried to come after me for not physically putting myself in peril to stop him. No joke. The prosecutor ended up on the wrong end of a judge in the matter, but nor before $10,000 of our savings got used to defend myself from all this mess, and I have some pretty bad PTSD from the whole mess.

So I am generally against people taking on this responsibility. I feel that it is best to let the courts appoint a state guardian, a person who works in this capacity and of course is absolved of personal responsibility for the actions of the mentally ill person.

 

[Ottakee]

@Faith-manor  that is my fear.  I am thinking of going for conservatorship though.   That way I can handle the money 

[TechWife]

That’s a good question. I imagine the liability might be the same as being a parent to a minor child, since the person becomes the guardian’s dependent. But, it’s definitely paying a consulting fee to a lawyer before committing. Also, you may have already done this, but find out what your responsibilities are when the person either refuses treatment or when treatment is unavailable, such as when there’s a bed shortage. Definitely don’t let the state manage the money. There are professional guardians and who aren’t always on the up & up when they also have control of the money.

 

[Faith-manor]

53 minutes ago, Ottakee said:

@Faith-manor  that is my fear.  I am thinking of going for conservatorship though.   That way I can handle the money 

That might be a better way to go. This way you could see to it that the money isn't going to be burned through unnecessarily, but not on the hook for anything the person does.

[Ottakee]

I have a call into the lawyer that did my other guardianships.

waiting on calls back from Community Mental Health and the social worker as well.