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By: Rana Goodman / On My Soapbox
Readers who have attended our previous
guardianship seminars may recall that
we outlined the pitfalls of being placed in
guardianship and what can (and often does happen) to your property
and savings.
Because of recent changes in
the Family Court system, we’ve
added options for you to consider
that would enable you to remain
in your home until YOU decide
that guardianship is really
needed and/or wanted by you.
The Vegas Voice lobbied the
Nevada Legislature to pass a
law that gave you the right to
nominate your own guardian.
Should the need arise, your
nomination would always take
precedence over any private or
public guardian a court might
appoint.
For this protection, you need
12
Guardianship Seminar Update
January 2024
Rana Goodman signs the first
Guardianship Nomination form. With her
is Publisher Dan, President Ray and then
Senator Becky Harris.
to file a guardianship nomination form with the Nevada
Secretary of State. We will provide the form at our workshops (see next
page) There is no charge for the form or for filing it.
Why the form? We have recently uncovered cases where a family
member (other than the person’s choice) convinced the court that their
family member is better suited to
care for them - including their
assets.
One example - we have been
communicating with a former
Las Vegas resident, a woman
who now resides with one of her
daughters living in the mid-west.
Her other two daughters live in
our Valley.
The other daughters filed suit
to become the mother’s guardian
claiming that the daughter
she lives with is not caring for
her adequately. The mother
adamantly denied that was true.
Thousands of dollars have
already been spent (starting
with those attorney fees) from
Mom’s estate, and hearings are
still going back and forth while they fight it out. Had mom filed the
guardianship nomination form, by law, that would have been the end
of the story.
*On another topic, I’d like to share the steps I took when caring for
my father and then my mother when it became necessary. The learning
period was in taking care of dad first. He never made things easy bless
him, but my daughters and I were there as often as needed.
The first step was to have my mother hire a caregiver five days a
week to come to their home and do whatever was needed for him. On
weekends my girls and I took over.
When my dad passed away, I sold their home and my mother and
I moved into a home together in Anthem. Again, remembering how
draining it was with dad, mom agreed to have the same caregiver to
assist her. The weekends were my job.
Another idea to consider: About 15 years ago, I took out a Long-Term
Care insurance policy. At that time the rate was $169 a month and it
has never changed. The policy provides for a caregiver to be sent to my
home several times a week and other benefits.
If a caregiver is not an option, you might consider an assisted living
facility where meals are provided and the monthly fee includes the
normal expenses you would have had you stayed in your home. The
biggest difference is that these choices are yours, not those of a stranger
assigned to you by a court.
We will talk about these choices at the seminar, but we hope these
ideas may give you “food for thought” in the meantime. Make a note
of any questions you may have, as we always have Q&A at the end of
the seminar.