SEATTLE: There is growing anger over the practice of skilled nursing homes initiating guardianship applications to obtain complete legal control of a resident’s money and physical destiny.
Courts offer no ‘real’ oversight after granting control.
The practice has become routine, underscoring the growing power skilled nursing homes wield over residents and families amid changes in the financing of long-term care.
Lawyers and others versed in the guardianship process agree that skilled nursing homes primarily use such petitions as a means of bill collection.
At least one judge has ruled that the tactic by skilled nursing homes is an abuse of the law, but the petitions, even if they are ultimately unsuccessful, force families into costly legal ordeals.
“It’s a costly move to intimidate,” said…