I didn't know if I should place this in the relationship forum, I'm surprised there isn't a legal issue section on ATS.
I'm not complaining just filling space while thinking of where to begin explaining this.
My dad has been an alcoholic for the better part of thirty five years but technically I guess he'd qualify as being a "Functioning Alcoholic",
(If there is such a thing?) but within the last 6 years or so his ability and desire to perform basic functions like bathing or cleaning his house has
drastically taken a downturn.
My brother and I moved him from his house 150 miles away to nearby us around this past summer after we found out he had been living in his truck
and defecating in his yard due to his gout being too severe to make it there 20 yards into his house. My uncle found him hallucinating in his vehicle
because he hadn't drank any water in days. We drove down after informed by our uncle and discovered he'd been living in sub-human conditions, toilet
completely filled with excrement, no running water, using his oven as his only heat source.
I could go further if necessary with discoveries in there if needed for legal precedence, suffice it to say it was disgusting, shocking, and heart
breaking all at the same time.
We had to basically pack up and clean up a hoarder type situation around him as he was furiously trying to BS his way into a later date for the
move. I took him to his bank to cash his monthly pension check to clear up back-owed rent and insure his vehicle to get current registration which he
didn't have, and watched in amazement as he repeatedly pulled out and laid his money in crumpled up handfuls on random counters. The city where I used
to live and which we were is the very last place you would want to do this.
Talking with him after this he tells me that he had been robbed at a party store after giving a random guy a Franklin to go into the store to buy his
whiskey because his gout was too bad to walk. He was positive that he was then robbed by this guy. Later I discovered he had hallucinated the entire
episode after finding his missing money in a crumpled up paper bag on the floor of his truck.
Again just trying to give full background on his ability to perform basic everyday functions.
After moving up here and getting semi-sober for a month or two his drinking accelerated to the point where he was picked up last week by an
ambulance after he was found unconscious on the floor after drinking 4 fifths of Jim Beam in 2 days. I picked him up from the hospital and on the ride
to his house I convinced him to check himself into an in-patient detox program and I have the logistics of that already worked out.
He has been late on his rent and hasn't had money for food due to drinking up most of his check and smoking 2 packs a day so........
My question is this..........
How do I go about gaining Power of Attorney over his health and finances to ensure he doesn't wind up homeless or worse???
My brother, myself, and the person whose basement apartment he rents who also acts somewhat as a caregiver have all decided it would be in his
best interests to have control of his finances. I am pretty sure there will be severe objections on his part but we feel he has sufficiently proven he
is unable to maintain control of his money.
I'd like if at all possible to avoid having to deal with an attorney in the process so advice in that regard would be greatly appreciated, but I
will gladly take any knowledgeable words of wisdom anyone has.
Also, thank you if you took the time to read all of that, feels kind of good to somewhat anonymously vent after dealing with all that.
edit on 6-10-2012 by QuestionsEverything because: Forgot a word