relocating a relative

[Artmakerjenny]

Not even sure this is the right place to post.... hoping a forum mod might redirect to the right place....

My question involves a person located in the state of: Illinois
And we want to bring him to Michigan.


So me and my husband live in Michigan. His brother lives in a care facility in Illinois. The guy had a great job, therefore has a nice fat pension, but things went sideways years ago. His wife was hospitalized and some years ago finally passed. Then (not wanting to use names here, will just call him bro.) Bro lost his job, and seemed to lose the will to be. Actually got diagnosed bi polar but would not stay on his meds. After police found him laying in a roadway they checked him into this care facility. This has been years now, he's much better, but he HATES living in this place. He has no freedoms at all. They won't even let him go outside for a walk.

I tried to find him an apartment right near us and I'm home all the time so could drive him to any doctor he needs any time. Took forever just to find a place close with availability and ALL apartments I tried are about the same, needing an application (and fee) for assorted background checks. Well he got denied for some credit issue, would not disclose it to me, claimed they mailed it to his facility but he never got it. He doesn't even have his own phone so communication with him is very difficult.

My husband and a family friend are driving to Illinois tomorrow to visit and my husband really wants to get him OUT of there. We can take him in for awhile, but finding him his own place is going to bring up what ever credit issue he has. I'm sure the reason no one goes after his money now is because he's been basically committed to this place but once he's out, who knows what will happen.


So.... I think we really need a lawyer. I have no clue what kind. But first we need to work on cleaning up what ever credit issues he has, and I have no clue how to do that. If he lives in our house (we actually have two small houses side by side, so putting him up for a bit is not a problem.) While here I can evaluate if he really can feed himself etc or of not, we have to find a similar facility closer to family.

So that's where we are now. Do we need to get power of attorney just to figure out WHAT his credit past is then try to clean it up? If it's huge, bankruptcy. If it's workable, some credit consolidation. I'm sure one of those has to happen before he has a chance of landing an apartment.

Any and all advice is appreciated.

 

[quincy]

Not even sure this is the right place to post.... hoping a forum mod might redirect to the right place....

My question involves a person located in the state of: Illinois
And we want to bring him to Michigan.


So me and my husband live in Michigan. His brother lives in a care facility in Illinois. The guy had a great job, therefore has a nice fat pension, but things went sideways years ago. His wife was hospitalized and some years ago finally passed. Then (not wanting to use names here, will just call him bro.) Bro lost his job, and seemed to lose the will to be. Actually got diagnosed bi polar but would not stay on his meds. After police found him laying in a roadway they checked him into this care facility. This has been years now, he's much better, but he HATES living in this place. He has no freedoms at all. They won't even let him go outside for a walk.

I tried to find him an apartment right near us and I'm home all the time so could drive him to any doctor he needs any time. Took forever just to find a place close with availability and ALL apartments I tried are about the same, needing an application (and fee) for assorted background checks. Well he got denied for some credit issue, would not disclose it to me, claimed they mailed it to his facility but he never got it. He doesn't even have his own phone so communication with him is very difficult.

My husband and a family friend are driving to Illinois tomorrow to visit and my husband really wants to get him OUT of there. We can take him in for awhile, but finding him his own place is going to bring up what ever credit issue he has. I'm sure the reason no one goes after his money now is because he's been basically committed to this place but once he's out, who knows what will happen.


So.... I think we really need a lawyer. I have no clue what kind. But first we need to work on cleaning up what ever credit issues he has, and I have no clue how to do that. If he lives in our house (we actually have two small houses side by side, so putting him up for a bit is not a problem.) While here I can evaluate if he really can feed himself etc or of not, we have to find a similar facility closer to family.

So that's where we are now. Do we need to get power of attorney just to figure out WHAT his credit past is then try to clean it up? If it's huge, bankruptcy. If it's workable, some credit consolidation. I'm sure one of those has to happen before he has a chance of landing an apartment.

Any and all advice is appreciated.

Is the brother mentally competent?

 

[Artmakerjenny]

I am not totally sure. He sounded fine on the phone today. And my husband and a long time family friend are going to see him tomorrow so I'll have a better idea then.

Still I get the feeling this place he's in is just milking a cash cow. If that's all that is going on he needs to be rescued out of there.
So
A. how do we look into and help clean up his credit
B. if we do take him in and he proves to need more care than I can give, how do we put him into a similar facility in our state? Last time the police did it.

 

[Zigner]

I suspect that your brother-in-law may be under a guardianship of some sort. If he is, then it's not going to be as simple as just taking him out of the facility. You and your husband should contact an attorney for assistance. This site may also be of assistance: https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/gac/OSG/Pages/Guide-to-adult-guardianship-in-Illinois.aspx

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

B. if we do take him in and he proves to need more care than I can give, how do we put him into a similar facility in our state? Last time the police did it.

I don't think you have anywhere close to the whole story. The police can't just put someone in a care facility.

 

[Zigner]

I don't think you have anywhere close to the whole story. The police can't just put someone in a care facility.

Can't and won't.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Can't and won't.

Well, they might would if they could.

 

[LdiJ]

Can't and won't.

Well, they could put someone in the hospital on a 72 hour hold, and then the hospital might be able to force someone into a care facility. The hospital would have to jump through legal hoops, but they have methods.

 

[Onceagain33]

I think you should step back and take time to read and understand what bi-polar is. An unmedicated bipolar is going to be FAR more than you and hubby can handle. Please take the time to really know the situation. This could be the single worst choice you ever make.

 

[Zigner]

Well, they could put someone in the hospital on a 72 hour hold, and then the hospital might be able to force someone into a care facility. The hospital would have to jump through legal hoops, but they have methods.

The police don't do that. They may be involved in the process, but it is the court that would order it.

https://www.illinoislegalaid.org/legal-information/being-admitted-mental-health-facility-emergency

(I won't continue on this side-discussion because it doesn't help the OP.)

 

[adjusterjack]

My husband and a family friend are driving to Illinois tomorrow to visit and my husband really wants to get him OUT of there

Then I strongly suggest that your husband call a local elder law attorney there and make an appointment to see that attorney before going to the facility.

The attorney will be able to find out whether the brother is under county or state guardianship and how much control the facility has over the situation.

If your brother and friend just show up unprepared at the facility it isn't likely to end well.

 

[Artmakerjenny]

All good responses here, thanks. Now how does one find a "local elder law attorney" in one state, three states from where we live? Just google it? Not even a real phone book anymore.

 

[Artmakerjenny]

We really need to move him... either closer to us in Michigan,or... another brother lives in Milwaukee. (Who probably doesn't want to deal with this so lets shoot for mi.) Thinking being closer to family who could at least visit more than a few times a year would be good. We already kinda looked into this and facilities here are twice the price. Then again.... perhaps they would be happy with his fat pension.

I'm just clueless here. Honestly I don't want to deal with him but I'd be the one who gets to. Hubby is a trucker and away for weeks at a time.

 

[quincy]

All good responses here, thanks. Now how does one find a "local elder law attorney" in one state, three states from where we live? Just google it? Not even a real phone book anymore.

If your brother-in-law is over 60 years of age, he/your husband/you could find some legal assistance through the Illinois Department on Aging. Zigner provided the same government link previously, on getting adult guardianship.

https://www2.illinois.gov/aging/ProtectionAdvocacy/Pages/Legal-Assistance.aspx

 

[Just Blue]

All good responses here, thanks. Now how does one find a "local elder law attorney" in one state, three states from where we live? Just google it? Not even a real phone book anymore.

https://www.isba.org/