A Place for Mom's Family

Hi,

My dad has moderate dementia, but all my sisters and brothers are jumping the gun (i think) and are saying he has Alzheimer's.  They've even had him "committed" and all his legal rights taken away, which I believe is a travesty as my dad is still a very lively and active man with fairly good reasoning capabilities.  They actually took him to court and got him declared "mentally incompetent" and he said his attorney didn't show up - and I believe him.  I've been fighting the 'authorities' but it's a losing battle; once you've been declared MI they don't listen to a thing you say...my siblings did this to him just get him out of the way as they are all angry with him.  I am not angry with him and want to serve as his guardian, but as they have him in another state (GA), eveyone there is saying i have little or no chance of having him come out to California to live with me or near me.

I guess I'm just looking for some support or if anyone knows any attornies who'd be willing to help my dad out.  He doesn't like living in Georgia and wants to come and be near me and his grandchildren.

Any ideas anyone?

Sam

First of all I commend you for being concerned about your dad. I would suggest that you do as much research about Alzheimer's as possible. Contact the Alzheimer's Association, they have national and local chapters. They have a 24 hour national hotline, you should be able to locate their number for your area through directory assistance or on their website. If you want to effectively help your dad you must gain as much knowledge as possible. Google Alzheimer's, many resources should come up. I live in Michigan, so my resource contact numbers may not be useful but I'm sure the web will provide area specific info. Please keep in mind: 1.Many Alzheimer patients can present well, this means that unless you spend a great deal of time with them it is hard to see the disease. 2. Not many courts are in the habit of declaring a person incompetent without clear evidence. Often this evidence comes from medical professsionals, who will not compromise their licenses to practice by giving unfounded opinions. Hope this helps.