We recently acted for the son of an elderly woman who still lived at home but was suffering from symptoms of dementia. Our client had been his mother’s carer since 2018, and while he had his own residence, our client would stay with her on a nearly full-time basis. He engaged a home care provider to assist his mother with personal care and domestic tasks around the home.
Our client expressed his dissatisfaction of the services performed to the provider on numerous occasions. He also requested documents and information from the provider. However, the provider refused this request as he was not appointed as his mother’s formal guardian/financial manager.
Following the provider’s refusal to furnish the documents and information, our client terminated the service with the intention of engaging a new home care provider. The initially engaged provider then made an application to the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (‘NCAT’) seeking the appointment of the Public Guardian as the mother’s formal guardian. The basis for this application was that the provider believed our client’s decision to terminate services was not in his mother’s best interest. There were also allegations alluding to concerns of elder abuse perpetrated by our client towards his mother.
NCAT is a self-represented tribunal; however, our client was granted leave to have legal representation. Our client engaged us to appear on his behalf in respect to the provider’s application and to make an application on behalf of our client to seek that he be appointed as the financial manager for his mother.
Upon provision of the material in support of the provider’s application, it became apparent that there was no primary evidence produced in support of the application. We argued that the application was only brought by the provider because of their commercial interest in the matter. Our client otherwise furnished evidence supporting his character, his relationship with his mother, and his ability to be financially responsible.
At the hearing, NCAT ordered the dismissal of the application by the provider and appointed our client as financial manager for his mother. This was a fantastic result for the client.
If you are finding yourself in need of legal assistance with guardianship or financial management issues, contact the Estates and Elder Law team for expert advice.
