My mother is losing her memory, not eating, forgetting her meds and has been involved in a scam where she lost a lot of money. I need help getting guardianship.

One way or the other you need to get control of the finances. It sounds like your mom is developing dementia and that's going to get worse. She will need her money for care.

If you can get her to agree to poa and she's still mentally competent enough try and get that done. It's much less expense than guardianship and would let you legally control her funds.

I suspect you're going to have quite a fight on your hands. Are you alone in this?

Phil,
Barb is right. The cheapest I've heard regarding getting guardianship is $8,000. And guardianship won't help her to remember to take her pills or to eat.

My suggestion is a nursing home. If there's no one with your mom to care for her and she needs daily care it's cheaper to place her in a nursing home than to get guardianship. Your mom would have to qualify for Medicaid first.

You don't necessarily need guardianship to tighten up her finances. Suggest to her that you and she open a bank account together. Tell her if you do this and she has to go into the hospital her bills can still get paid. Put a positive spin on it. You'll have a joint checking account, opt for online banking for yourself, and keep an eye on your mom's finances. I don't know what kinds of accounts she has but you can set it up so that she has as much money in her account as you put there. If she's going to need to pay bills transfer money from another one of her accounts into the account she uses for bills to make sure she's covered. I've done this with both my dad and my daughter. You'll be the primary account holder so you can view everything that's going on either by computer or on your phone (I love my mobile banking!). Have the accounts all synched up so you can keep track of what is going where. If your mom finds herself being scammed again and you catch it you can call the bank and they'll debit those funds back into your mom's account if the bank determines it's a scam. But they'll debit the funds back and THEN do their investigation so your mom will have her money back instantly.

The way I pitched it to my dad was something like, "Hey dad, I was thinking. We should be on eachother's bank accounts. What if something happens to you and I can't access your money for your bills? Or what if you died? I'd need your money to take care of those expenses." He thought it was a great idea only he didn't get put on MY account, I was put on HIS account. A small detail that he overlooked.

I'm sorry this is so long. Did your eyes glaze over?

If there has been financial abuse committed against your mom, your first phone call needs to be to Adult Protetive Services and your local Area Agency on Aging. Getting guardianship is expensive (We're talking 10s of thousands of dollars) and it may be better and safer to let the State take over.

You can explore Legal Aid and University Law clinics as well.