My stepfather runs up his credit card on a monthly basis buying lottery tickets. We think he is now trying to get a loan to pay off the credit card so that he can run it up again. The bank will not help with this. We destroy the credit card and they send another one. Would this require going to court to get a guardianship over him? He is almost 90 years old.
Do you have any idea though what underlies his lottery ticket purchases? Is he a "get rich quick" kind of guy? Does he have debts or financial obligations that need to be paid off?
But more than likely, yes - guardianship would be the route to take.