Legal Question in Elder Law in New York

That's a tough one. I wonder why the physician didn't take mom's driver's license. Why don't you call and ask. You're really in a tough spot from Florida. You can always fly up and take her back down, but if she doesn't want to go you can't do that. I suppose mom didn't appoint anyone as her health care agent or power of attorney; very, very bad. This is going to end in very big trouble for everyone if you and your brother don't get on the same page. Some sort of limited guardianship might be in the works soon, but from Florida it's going to be very difficult or impossible to accomplish. Unfortunately what happens often is the senior has a fall or other incident and is taken to the hospital by the police or fire dept., and then the hospital diagnoses the senior with dementia, and won't let the person leave without making sure their safety is assured. That's the law. Which means the hospital is going to begin a guardianship proceeding to have the court appoint a guardian, and the senior ends up in a nursing home. It's even worse with "mild" dementia, because then it's not an easy call for the court to make as far as appointing a guardian; the court will be reluctant to do so. Which means more time and legal fees, which all come out of mom's savings and investments. It's a tragic possibility, so you had best come up and get this straightened out.

Good luck.

Rick Bryan