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...stuffed where?

I received an hour long call from mom's court appointed attorney who had questions for me and told me many things I don't understand and some things I did understand. She was friendly and helpful. Some of what she said was the following:

* I appear to be lacking paperwork such as "Notice of Hearing."

* In order to apply for Conservatorship, I need to secure a $14,000 bond out of which I need to come up with about $100 as the fee.

* I may not be qualified to be the conservator as I have no free time to take conservatorship classes nor do I have any assets to speak of.

* She told me to look into:

1. Hospice care for mom

2. Respite care for mom

3. Social Security which might give me an income as I care for mom.

* In lieu of me being the Conservator, I can appoint a co-conservator such as a fiducary (sp) who would handle all the monthly bills, get vital things fixed in the house, get the car fixed and secure us loans.

* She told me NOT to go after a Reverse Mortgage for two reasons: (1) It has the highest fees which can be $30,000 and (2) if mom dies after I secure the mortgage, I would lose the house.

* She said I might not want/need Dementia powers on mom as they have only have to do with psychotropic drug treatment.

* She will be out next week to meet mom.

* She suggested I obtain the services of an attorney. I told her my income is -0- and the household income is overstretched now. Today alone, I am paying $200 to Edison (to catch up) and need to take the car in for repair (hopefully just a bad hose or less than $100 in repair). Then we still have to pay gas, cable, water, phone, car smog and registration, food for the month and yes...all on $1,100 a month....Yes, It's going to be an exciting month.

In other words, I have lots to think about over the next three weeks.

So far this Friday:

* I called Social Security and they said they don't pay anyone to care for seniors.

* I paid Edison $200.00

* Bought groceries $124

* Now as soon as I eat a sandwich, I drive a mile down the street to my mechanic and get the diagnosis on the leaky radiator hose.

My mechanic just called and said he had to replace the water pump. The cost is $247.00. That means mom and I don't get to eat so much this month. I leave for the two mile walk to pay the mechanic and get my car in a few hours. Sounds expensive?

With my luck, Kristoff will say later it's a $9.00 part and he could do it for $9.00 plus $20.00 labor laugh:

Replacing the water pump for Mitsubishi engined Dodge vans goes for around $600.00. You don't want to know how I acquired that information. --FLO--

MacTheWolf (imported) wrote: Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:54 am My mechanic just called and said he had to replace the water pump. The cost is $247.00. That means mom and I don't get to eat so much this month. I leave for the two mile walk to pay the mechanic and get my car in a few hours. Sounds expensive?

With my luck, Kristoff will say later it's a $9.00 part and he could do it for $9.00 plus $20.00 labor laugh:

My neighbor and I replaced the WP on my Silverado last winter. It was about $80 for a rebuilt pump, but then we replaced the serpentine belt too, since it was off. Materials: about 140.00. Value of neighbors help, about 150.00. You are about on target, Mac. And I charge a hell of a lot more than $20 an hour. My service rate for house repairs is $1.58 a minute.

Hooray

My junk heap of a vehicle works and the mechanic only charged me $228 instead of $247

I wonder if winking at him helped?

Hell, to save money I would have .........

You never know. I'm told it helps to have big tits. --FLO--

My sister and I use the same mechanic... Our tits are the same size... He treats us well. I would have to say that yes, having big tits helps.

You help me realise how good my life is.

Mac--

It might be a good idea for you to investigate other possible avenues to dealing with your mother's dementia. Have you looked into whether she might be convinced to put her assets in trust, with you as the trustee? If your household income comes largely from social security, I don't think they will pay the money directly into a trust, but the money can be paid into a bank account, then automatically be paid into the trust.

Have you tried to find a legal aid society or a similar no-fee organization that can give you legal help? There must be something of that type in the LA area. Some law schools do that sort of thing. Don't assume that what the court appointee told you is true--she may see herself as representing your mother's interests against yours.

Mac,

Listen to Beau Geste. He has valid points...

I was able to get my mother to sign a Durable Power of Attorney form before she was totally demented. That meant that I could take over her finances, etc.

However, I'd guess that your mother is too far along to be able to give proper consent - that makes it all very difficult, and a DPoA is not possible. The courts will take forever, and you cannot afford a good lawyer.:-\ I don't know what to say except you have my sympathy.

Mac, you are in a mess, with no end in sight. Ugh!

The doctors told me long ago that mom had Sundown Syndrome (means her Dementia gets worse at night).

Now I think she has Daytime Syndrome too.

Alas.

My friend's grandmother has sundown... So they give her a glass of red wine every night. Keep her liquored up!

I called the Redlands Court to verify the time of my case tomorrow. I was told the court is temporily closed. I called the local court but all lines are busy. I'll try this afternoon.

Now I know the meaning of the saying, "when it rains, it pours."

I received a notice from DMV that my auto registration had expired. They only wanted $14 to renew it. I went to pay it at AAA but was refused as it seems my car insurance expired too.

That means I'll be driving as little as possible until the first of July. Sometimes life is very hard...and times like this, it sucks

OMG Mac, My heart goes out to ya! Now just don't get caught with the car. I was also thinking about the situation with your mom, there should be a home of some sort that would care for her and only utilize her social security income, had to do that with my grandfather. If you haven't tented the house yet, you can buy mouse chaser awayer things that plug into the wall outlet and send signals through the wiring in the house. The vermon will be gone in about a week. Good Luck !!!! Talk to ya later

I only see two roaches a week and they die quickly. Mousewise, I find one or two a week...dead from the mouse poison.

Fortunatesly, riodents are under control

P.S. Unless, of course, you count lawyers, judges, the DMV et al as pests.

MacTheWolf (imported) wrote: Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:09 am P.S. Unless, of course, you count lawyers, judges, the DMV et al as pests.

Ya gotta use shark bait for them lawyers.

I like Verizon (phone & Internet) better than I like Time Warner Cable. Verizon said I could pay the back amount on the first of July. Time Warner didn't want to wait so I get to be TV-deprived for the next 11 days. Hell, I probably watch too much TV anyways. OMG, I might have to learn to read all over again.

Christina (imported) wrote: Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:42 am Ya gotta use shark bait for them lawyers.

Oh you're wrong about sharks, Christina...

...Sharks do not bite Lawyers because of professional courtesy...

Those ultrasonic vermin repellers are a scam. Roaches don't have ears and the mice could care less. Don't waste your money on junk.

Mac, you need to keep ahead of your bills if possible. Every time that you go into default is another black mark on your credit history. So you end up paying more for car insurance, etc., even if you never have an accident or a ticket.

Our financial institutions don't give a shit about poor people - their aim is to milk them like a cow until they run dry. Once you get into poverty, you will have a terrible struggle getting out of it. Unfortunately, for you, you are already there.... [big sigh]

Keeping ahead is an impossibility...our combined income is $1,100 a month...not a lot to get by on.

MacTheWolf (imported) wrote: Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:33 am Keeping ahead is an impossibility...our combined income is $1,100 a month...not a lot to get by on.

That's poverty level. You must be able to qualify for some sort of assistance for your mother? But then nobody really cares about people in your circumstances.... [big sigh]