Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Tennessee
My 95 y/o Dad has been in a Nursing Home for 1.5 years. He became eligible for MedicAid 9/1/2009.
His 83 y/o wife is court appointed conservator (Tennessee). In early May, 2010, wife's son moved her to Kentucky stating she was suffering dementia and could no longer take care of herself, much less her husband.
No arrangements were made for Dad's daily needs in her absence. She has not filed the required financial or status reports required by the court and as of 6/11/2010 she is in contempt of court. She is not expected to return to Tennessee. Her son will not allow her to resign the conservatorship.
Bottom line is wife's son is now in control of Dad's life. The only money involved is the $50 personal needs allotment guaranteed by MedicAid. She gets those funds, not the Nursing Home.
I've been attempting to find some way to terminate the conservatorship without having to hire a lawyer. I can't afford one. Dad has less than $2,000 in assets. I keep being told the only way the conservatorship can be terminated is by hiring a private lawyer to petition the court.
I live in Oregon. My brother lives in TN and has agreed to accept appointment as conservator if we can get the wife's conservatorship terminated.
Since the wife is no longer in the state, has not filed the required reports and her son states she has dementia, is there a way the Judge could deal with this matter as a failure to perform the duties of conservator without a lawyer and petitions?
Thank you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Your brother could go to the clerk and master for the probate court where the conservatorship was established and see if he can file a petition pro se (without an attorney). I've never been involved in this exact scenario, but the conservatorship statute in Tennesssee does permit appointment of a standby conservator (TCA 34-3-107), whose sole purpose is to step in and serve when the original conservator is 'unavailable' for any reason. I think the facts you describe constitute your step-mother's 'unavailability.'
Your brother can at least attempt to petition the court pro se to remove the wife - who is now incompetent herself - and have himself appointed as conservator, referencing that the statute permits a stand-by, for situations just like this one.
You can view the entire conservatorship statute in Tennessee here: http://www.michie.com/tennessee/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=tncode
It's located at TCA 34-3-101 through 109.
Good luck.
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