This is a situation in which many children of elderly parents find themselves. Elderly individuals often want to stay in their homes and may insist they can properly care for themselves, but in truth they aren’t able to.
The situation becomes especially tricky when there are two elderly spouses who are trying to care for one another, and one or both of them are in poor health but neither wants to get help.
Unfortunately, children often find themselves in the middle of this situation. The children are often busy with their own families and careers and may not even live in the area in which the parent resides, which can make the situation even tougher.
It’s ideal if the parents and children can work out a solution together. This may include a home health aide who comes to the home for an agreed number of hours a week, and keeps the children informed on what is happening. The parents may agree to go into an assisted living home or a nursing facility if they can go together.
However, often an elderly individual may not agree that he or she needs help, and may refuse to leave home. In this situation, the child (or another loved one) may need to seek a guardianship over the elderly person in order to get the person into a safe environment, such as a nursing home.
In New York, the court may appoint a guardian for a person if the court finds that a guardian is needed to provide for the personal needs or to manage the property and financial affairs of the person. In addition, the elderly individual must either agree to the appointment or be found to be incapacitated.
If you are in this difficult situation, call the New York Guardianship Attorneys at Friedman & Ranzenhofer at 716-542-5444. We have 13 offices in New York in which to serve you, and we have extensive experience with helping clients in similar situations.