Short of hiring an attorney, what steps can you take to force a parent to be evaluated?

Thanks dogabone. My sister's son huts bought a home of his own for his family and doesn't want this one. He has no extra cash to help with repairs.

He gave the home to a Grandson you stated.That's the person you need to go after to get those things fixed.If the Son that owns the home refuses to repair the problems in the home.Turn the tables on the Son.Tell him either fix the problems or you will call and report the matters to adult protective services explaining to them that the owner of the home refuses to fix the problems.Once the Son learns he may be in trouble he will fix the problems.If that doesn't work?Make bigger problems.You need to call adult protective services about this.

So sorry to hear that happened to you. Here in the US, if the person is about to seriously injure themselves or others and you are willing to press charges, off they go. They are give a choice of the hoosegow or the hospital. If we have a really bad driver, we can report them to the DMV with a notarized letter of complaint. I have done that, with all siblings signed on too. If a homestead has reached the point where it is unsafe, either the health department or the building inspector will respond to a formal complaint. I once dispatched the building inspector to a hospital with a crumbling brick wall when they ignored my concern that it would collapse onto the emergency room. Repairs were underway within 24 hours. Put it in writing to the proper authorities with a valid complaint and things will get done.

Sorry to "pstegman", these days you CANNOT call the Emergency Services (not in Australia anyway) and have he or she taken in for evaluation. The Ambulance drivers refuse point blank to permit this and the Police have no powers at all in these circumstances.

How do I know? I tried it and was left on my lonesome with Mum after all the helpers pulled out!

If he does something totally bizarre, you call 911 and have him taken in for a psych eval, against his will. For god's sake I hope he is not still driving a car.

I take it you want to have your dad evaluated for dementia?

Does he see his Dr. for anything? A Dr. can do a very (VERY) basic evaluation but you'd probably have to get dad there under false pretenses. Does he have some medical issue you can use as an excuse to get him to the Dr.?

And if this Dr. determines that there is dementia then what? That won't change your dad. It won't improve your parents' quality of life. He won't stop being paranoid, suspicious, or delusional.

When there is Alzheimer's and/or dementia like in the case with your parents there rarely is quality of life. Dementia and Alzheimer's rob the person of quality of life. It's very sad. I'm so sorry that you have to watch your parents decline like this.

It doesn't sound as if your dad is capable of caring for your mom. Do you have siblings? If so, have you all gotten together to discuss this? Your parents can't continue to live on their own without disaster striking. And you're spot on about getting your dad to the Dr. Use any little excuse. You have a question about his medication or you're concerned about a bruise he has on his arm. Anything.

Good luck.