Should You Become Your Parents' Guardian Before Someone Else Does?

Most people do not even stop to think about the need for their aging parents to have a legal guardian as long as they are still perfectly capable of living on their own. And why would they? When someone is still able to cook for themselves, get dressed on their own, and they are not a danger to themselves or others, there is never a need to step in to be their legal guardian…or at least, that is how it should be.

The sad fact is that there are a lot of reasons to consider having your elderly parents move in with you and you become their legal guardian. Even if they can still make their own decisions with a clear mind, you may still want that paperwork. Why? Because someone else might step in to take over the lives of your parents. It could be a complete stranger and the courts will allow it. Your parents can lose all legal rights.

What to Do

You might want to talk to your parents about having them come to live with you. The legal paperwork of guardianship can be done just to protect them from anyone else trying to take over their lives. Of course, it is just paperwork and they can still live their lives and make decisions as they see fit. One nice thing is that since this paperwork will already be in place, you will not have to worry about dealing with all of it should one or both of your parents get to a point where they need you to act as their guardian.

In the meantime, you can make a few adjustments to your home to make it a little easier for them to live there. You can have chair stair lifts installed, a ramp built for easy access on and off of your porch, and have some of your door frames widened to allow for wheelchairs should they ever be needed.

Depending on their needs and your financial situation, you might be able to receive grants or charitable help in order to get all of this set up for them. There are many organizations out there that can help point you in the right direction so this will be something easy enough to transition into.

Theft and Kidnapping

There have been countless elderly individuals who have been, for lack of a more appropriate word, kidnapped from their own homes and placed into assisted living or nursing homes. Their homes and personal belongings are sold and their guardian, approved by the courts, will bill hundreds of dollars to their estate just for having a couple minute phone conversation with their wards.

The scariest part is that all of this can happen without the family even knowing until it is too late. All that guardian needs is to be approved by the court and have some random doctor fill out a form that states your aging parents are no longer safe on their own, even if it is not true. The courts do not ask for further proof. The word of your parents will not count, and that is even if they get a chance to appear in court.

Even before that happens, if the wrong people catch word that your elderly family members have things in their home that are desirable, they might become victims of a burglary. Since this is something that could happen to just about any elderly individual, because criminals suspect that they will be less likely to fight back, it is something that you need to always consider as a possibility.

For most of us, our parents have been the ones looking out for us our entire lives. As they grow older, it may be time to return the favor.