this is long but I’m desperate for answers.
This is in IL btw
background info: my gma raised me my whole life, she got Alzheimer’s, placed in nursing home. Her daughter was POA and found to be stealing from her. Court charged her and now appointed state guardian.
1. I’m not her child, but why am I not allowed notices of the hearings and court dates. When I asked guardian if I can be notified, since I’m an interested party for my grandma, he said no bc he doesn’t want a packed court room..
& why was I not allowed the chance to be guardian. I thought the state is last resort. And I went to the court date & spoke up and was ignored. I do qualify based on requirements.
2. now the guardian has put my gma house up for sale with a realtor. Unbeknownst to me, as I found out by seeing the for sale sign in yard. There wasn’t any court hearing about it yet. But I have plenty of personal belongings in the house and would also want the chance to have sentimental items before anything is sold. My gmas other daughter has went through and taken what she wanted from the house. As well as her son.
3. They have shown the house over 10x now with all my stuff etc. still there. I called the guardian who met me at the house and harassed me the entire time. Supervising my every move and making me lay everything out for him to take pictures of all my stuff I managed to get together. Then refused to let me go through and see where all my stuff would be, as I don’t remember where everything is and everything is displaced bc ppl went through it already. He said he has no obligation to let me get anything and that this is his house now etc. and I absolutely was not allowed to take anything of my gmas either. He said there would be a hearing next week before anything would be sold. And kicked me out of the house, forcing me to leave my belongings I had packed up.
what are my rights or what can I do? I feel so disrespected and heartbroken over the entire situation.
i owe it to my grandmother to try my hardest to do right for her. This was my only home my entire upbringing and she raised me. I know what she would and wouldn’t be ok with.
any comments are welcomed and appreciated. Thank you !
If you know the court / judge that is handling the case you could go to the Courthouse and talk to the clerk (not sure if that would be allowed)
But you and any relative should have been notified of the Guardianship case.
(Is this in Chicago by chance?)
I disagree that the house is the guardians, they are Mom's representative andbas such have a right to sell her home and whats in it.
When your grandmom went into a home, you should have gotten your belongings out then. Your Aunts POA may have given her the right to sell it. If she would not allow you in, then you needed to go to court to show you had a right to get in.
Grandparents have no rights, grandchildren probably don't either. You have an Aunt, are there other children? If so, than children should have been notified of court dates. Depending on how much Aunt stole, she could be a felon and as such has no say in decisions made for Grandmom. May not have been allowed in the court hearing.
None of us are lawyers and laws are per State. You really need a lawyer to prove you lived there and are entitled to your personal items. If grandmom had a Will leaving items to certain people, maybe the guardian can take that into consideration.
1) Get an attorney to represent you re: guardianship.
2) Get an attorney to represent you re: multi-generational household.
3) Get an attorney to represent you re: state's guardian conduct.
4) Moving fast, even without an attorney, you can file a claim for your items with the court.
5) Really, get an attorney!
Do you visit your grandmother in the nursing home? If not, maybe that prejudiced the guardian against you, that you're only interested in her belongings rather than her. If yes, is she cognizant enough to let the guardian know that she did raise you and that she would like you to be able to have what is yours from the home? The guardian does have responsibility to at least listen to your grandmother's input, whether he deems it reliable or not.
You probably should talk to a lawyer to advise you how to challenge the decisions being made by the guardian, if necessary. Also, you or a family member could contact the realtor, expressing interest in seeing the house. Then during the tour ask the realtor how the clean-out of the home will occur after a sale. Will there be an estate sale, will they use a "got-junk" type of company, or some other plan?
I know this is heartbreaking and frustrating. Let us know how it goes.
You need an attorney. You say you are not the child of the grandmother's daughter who is accused of elder abuse and fraud. Then what IS your relationship here exactly?
At the point you were told you cannot be at the proceedings you should have gotten an attorney. At this point, given you didn't even know a date, it sounds to me like this is a done deal by the courts, and there is already a court appointed fiduciary.
There is of course a way to prove what's what with the sale, and that is to have someone ask for a showing of the home. And pretend interest in buying; they will soon enough be told whether the home can now be sold or is in a sort of holding pattern until court appointed fiduciary takes over.
I can readily enough tell you why you aren't being included. It is because you aren't trusted. WHY that is, I cannot know, but apparently a fraud has been perpetrated on your grandmother of some pretty astounding level.
Get an attorney. That is the only way you can KNOW anything and the only way you can just "possibly" DO anything. To my mind, if this has happened to your grandmother, it is likely a very good thing she is now in the care of the state. The state doesn't take over lightly. It is costly and onerous to do. So there is some reason you are frozen out, and that is your mystery to solve. We are strangers from across the country, and could only guess.
Good luck. Hope you'll update us.
Who I am is the daughter of my grandmothers son. That’s my relationship. & She raised me in her home my whole life.
I have no contact with the aunt that has Been stripped from POA position for the theft etc. I have nothing to do with any of that.
I think that ever since I popped up out the blue at the court dates, and tried advocating for my grandmother livelihood and my presence was made known, I’ve been out on the opposing team in lack of better words. When courts/guardian seen I was suggesting things that weren’t in their favor or following their plans they want me out the picture and to shut up. It’s clear that the choice of action was set in stone before that hearing ever began.
idc if they trust me or not. I have nothing to hide and they can gladly look into me if they wanted. They haven’t even gave that a thought bc they already seen me as a problem for their plan. It’s suppose to be about my grandma, her best interests. Not what’s the easiest for the state. At this point I’m unsure who is even benefiting from all of this, the pockets of the court, the guardian, the relators.. or my grandma and her care at the facility she’s in…
I feel helpless. But Im, trying every avenue I’m able to, to get some sort of help or guidance. Hence why I’m even asking strangers across the country,on this site for advice.
Maybe it has to do with who trains and provides the guardians? In Minneapolis where I live, the court assigned guardian was from Lutheran Social Services. Whenever we communicated with the guardian, he was polite and respectful but we, too, were blocked out of all his accounts without warning (not that we cared at that point, plus the man had no money to be stolen). The guardian needed me because I had personal preference information about my SFIL that he wanted in order to better help and advocate for him. Whenever the guardian communicated with me on the phone there were always 1 and sometimes 2 other people from LSS monitoring the call (with my permission), as well as being copied on emails.
Your Gma's guardian was already dealing with your Mom Aunt. Why didn't your Aunt advocate for you when she had the chance? Also, a close family member was stealing from your Gma, so everyone in the family comes under suspicion. Anyone can give a "sob story" like you -- and how would the guardian know yours is actually true?
The guardian is selling the house in order to pay Medicaid for her financial assistance and the facility.
The only recourse I can think of is to find out what organization is responsible for the guardian and report how you were treated and that your personal belongings are still in the house and that if you aren't permitted to remove what is yours (since you lived there your whole life) you will get legal representation. After that, I don't know what you can do.
For the record, if you became your Gma's guardian then you'd also need to provide for her financially if she didn't have enough money to cover her caregiving. You are too young to know how much this costs per week ($$$$).
There are good guardians and bad guardians. I would make sure to find out where to report your Gma's bad one.
May you receive your possessions and mementos and gain peace in your heart in spite of this turn of events.
how is legal for him to refuse me access to my belongings? Technically, If he took over the home, does he have to give 30 day notice to be out of the home ? I’m not living there, but I’m just curious how he can literally take over and keep me from my stuff and is gonna have it sold.
there’s no agency he came from. He is the state of IL public guardian. This guy has not tried to get any information on preferences or knows any information about our family or anything. I tried to speak up at court and let them know I am a credible source to comment on my grandmothers likes, dislikes etc. but that wasn’t even acknowledged.
I think the fact that I had no part whatsoever in my aunt stealing from my grandmother. I would have been arrested along with her if so, should count for some sort of weight for the guardian to know my “sob story” isn’t fictitious.
thank you for your kind words.
I do appreciate any and all feedback. I will definitely be figuring out how to report like you said about the guardian, I didn’t even think of doing that.