Ask your brother first why you weren't notified and if you're not satisfied with the answer, go see an attorney to find out why and if you need to be notified. All states are different and your state may be one that only notifies by a newspaper notice. Does your mother have a good deal of money? That may be the motive of the brother not letting you know of his dealings. You just need answers, that's all. If she doesn't have any money to speak of, see what the guardianship entails and what it does for your mother and what your brother gets out of it. It may be that he couldn't find you and wants to be able to make medical decisions in her best interest.
Contact the Court in GA and tell them you were never notified. Notification can take the form of a newspaper ad which tells what legal action is going to take place and relatives should notify the Court if they are interested. Each state has their own laws, but find out. If you are out-of-state, the judge probably decided it was in her best interest to have your brother in state.
I would check the documents in the court file. It should list who was notified and how, give the reasons for the proceeding, etc. That should answer a lot of questions.
Also, does your brother say why you weren't give direct notice? He or his attorney should know.
It's a huge responsibility. I'd keep that in mind.
Make sure this 'guardianship' is actually a legal one and not just reported as such by your brother or someone else; in other words hopefully you've seen in actuality the documents as authorized/signed and sealed by the court before responding too vehemently. It is sometimes held for thirty days after the hearing to give time for review/challenge requests before it is signed by the judge. GardenArtist's answer is also valid, whether the info given the court for notification purposes was correct or incorrect, intentionally or unintentionally so (in case you are a conspiracy theorist as I tend to be). In Georgia, where I and my brother obtained co-guardianship of my mother, we were required to give the names and addresses of just 2 other relatives who might have an interest in the proceeding. We have no other siblings. We gave a first cousin and one of my sons, both of whom understood the situation and were in agreement. Think immediate family must all be notified though, as you said. At best guardianship is tough on most everyone, even when all are agreed. At worst there are acrimonious challenges, hard feelings, long legal battles, and exploding legal costs. The legal system has justifiably made the end game the health, well-being, and safety of the potential ward, esp. if the ward's demented state prevents their making good decisions as regards those things. Guardianship is no baby's game and has strict requirements for the guardian, who must annually report and be prepared to prove to the court the soundness of their decisions on behalf of the ward. In short, your brother's intentions may be what you need to know in order to determine whether this is a good thing or not before taking on a potentially exhausting, expensive, and difficult court review/challenge. Guardianship is a responsibility not to be played down. That said, if you do not trust your brother's motivations and/or he is not open to suggestions/opinions about your mother's care, by all means be prepared to do what is necessary to ensure the best possible for her. The final caveat per answers to prior such posts: most often a family member as guardian is many times better than an OUTSIDER assigned by the court who has no obligation or reason to take any family member's preferences into account when making decisions for the ward. And that could be the result from a court fight where parties disagree and the judge deems no family member able to handle it successfully. God bless you! Your mother's best interests should be the driving force for any further steps.
Also check your state's and county's court rules to determine what steps are required to effect service of process. Rereading Igloo's comments, I wasn't aware that in some states service by publication is an accepted method of service without having attempted personal service first. As written above, I'm only familiar with Michigan's general court rules.
Igloo's point ties in with my suggestion to check the court file.
Notice by publication is done if attempt to locate someone has failed, i.e., if a notice mailed is returned, if a process server is unable to locate an individual, and if there is no other indication where the person is.
Court rules (in Michigan, at least) provide for service by publication. This is why you need to check the file to determine if there were any addresses or erroneous addresses provided for you. If there were, there's another problem which relates to who provided such erroneous information and whether or not it was intentional. At that point, you need to think about getting an attorney to find out what options are available to you and whether the hearing was in fact properly held in that an heir was not able to participate b/c of erroneous information on whereabouts.
It could be that the notification was done by placing a legal notice or summons in the local newspaper. In some states, placement in a publication is sufficient notification. Usually 3 notices within a set time frame is required.
GardenArtist gave a great answer. I would add that you need to find out the exact procedure for filing a review. An hour or so with an eldercare attorney would help if you don't feel confident enought to proceed on your own. Good luck
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I would check the documents in the court file. It should list who was notified and how, give the reasons for the proceeding, etc. That should answer a lot of questions.
Also, does your brother say why you weren't give direct notice? He or his attorney should know.
It's a huge responsibility. I'd keep that in mind.
GardenArtist's answer is also valid, whether the info given the court for notification purposes was correct or incorrect, intentionally or unintentionally so (in case you are a conspiracy theorist as I tend to be). In Georgia, where I and my brother obtained co-guardianship of my mother, we were required to give the names and addresses of just 2 other relatives who might have an interest in the proceeding. We have no other siblings. We gave a first cousin and one of my sons, both of whom understood the situation and were in agreement. Think immediate family must all be notified though, as you said.
At best guardianship is tough on most everyone, even when all are agreed. At worst there are acrimonious challenges, hard feelings, long legal battles, and exploding legal costs. The legal system has justifiably made the end game the health, well-being, and safety of the potential ward, esp. if the ward's demented state prevents their making good decisions as regards those things. Guardianship is no baby's game and has strict requirements for the guardian, who must annually report and be prepared to prove to the court the soundness of their decisions on behalf of the ward.
In short, your brother's intentions may be what you need to know in order to determine whether this is a good thing or not before taking on a potentially exhausting, expensive, and difficult court review/challenge. Guardianship is a responsibility not to be played down. That said, if you do not trust your brother's motivations and/or he is not open to suggestions/opinions about your mother's care, by all means be prepared to do what is necessary to ensure the best possible for her.
The final caveat per answers to prior such posts: most often a family member as guardian is many times better than an OUTSIDER assigned by the court who has no obligation or reason to take any family member's preferences into account when making decisions for the ward. And that could be the result from a court fight where parties disagree and the judge deems no family member able to handle it successfully.
God bless you! Your mother's best interests should be the driving force for any further steps.
Notice by publication is done if attempt to locate someone has failed, i.e., if a notice mailed is returned, if a process server is unable to locate an individual, and if there is no other indication where the person is.
Court rules (in Michigan, at least) provide for service by publication. This is why you need to check the file to determine if there were any addresses or erroneous addresses provided for you. If there were, there's another problem which relates to who provided such erroneous information and whether or not it was intentional. At that point, you need to think about getting an attorney to find out what options are available to you and whether the hearing was in fact properly held in that an heir was not able to participate b/c of erroneous information on whereabouts.