How does one acquire temporary guardianship in Virginia to prevent self-harm?
September 3, 2010 2:22 PM Subscribe
Looking for information on Temporary Guardianship in the case of multiple attempted suicides in Virginia.
An immediate family member has tried to kill herself twice in the past 10 days, landed in the mental health ward of a local hospital both times, but seeing as how they're an acute care facility they can't do much beyond try to stabilize her.
The plan is to get her into a long-term inpatient facility (hopefully out of state), but the problem is getting her to agree to it. Since landing in the hospital this time, she's talked about what she would do differently next time when killing herself, and expressed disappointment that she wasn't successful this time. Counting on her cooperation is almost certainly out of the question*.
If she tries to leave they'll levy a Temporary Detaining Order to keep her there until Thursday, but there's not much the hospital can do outside of that. It's apparently nigh impossible to have someone committed against their will in Virginia, but the idea of Temporary Guardianship has been floated multiple times.
We were directed to the wrong section of the courts to learn about the process (Circuit Court, not the magistrate!), and now that everyone's closed for the holiday weekend we're kind of stuck until Tuesday. YANML, but some things we are looking to learn:
1) What is the burden of evidence for getting Temporary Guardianship
2) How difficult is obtaining it, esp in a situation like this
3) How long does the process take
4) Who needs to be involved
5) Anything else we're missing, and any general information about Temporary Guardianship
These sorts of laws apparently vary a lot state to state - this is specifically Virginia. Anecdotes or insight into other state systems are appreciated if only to have a better idea of What's Possible.
If you happen to have any other ideas outside of guardianship, your input is certainly welcome.
I'm not always at a computer, so you can drop me an email at a throwaway - allaboardthecrazybrain@gmail.com.
* Remember, this is the second time in 10 days
An immediate family member has tried to kill herself twice in the past 10 days, landed in the mental health ward of a local hospital both times, but seeing as how they're an acute care facility they can't do much beyond try to stabilize her.
The plan is to get her into a long-term inpatient facility (hopefully out of state), but the problem is getting her to agree to it. Since landing in the hospital this time, she's talked about what she would do differently next time when killing herself, and expressed disappointment that she wasn't successful this time. Counting on her cooperation is almost certainly out of the question*.
If she tries to leave they'll levy a Temporary Detaining Order to keep her there until Thursday, but there's not much the hospital can do outside of that. It's apparently nigh impossible to have someone committed against their will in Virginia, but the idea of Temporary Guardianship has been floated multiple times.
We were directed to the wrong section of the courts to learn about the process (Circuit Court, not the magistrate!), and now that everyone's closed for the holiday weekend we're kind of stuck until Tuesday. YANML, but some things we are looking to learn:
1) What is the burden of evidence for getting Temporary Guardianship
2) How difficult is obtaining it, esp in a situation like this
3) How long does the process take
4) Who needs to be involved
5) Anything else we're missing, and any general information about Temporary Guardianship
These sorts of laws apparently vary a lot state to state - this is specifically Virginia. Anecdotes or insight into other state systems are appreciated if only to have a better idea of What's Possible.
If you happen to have any other ideas outside of guardianship, your input is certainly welcome.
I'm not always at a computer, so you can drop me an email at a throwaway - allaboardthecrazybrain@gmail.com.
* Remember, this is the second time in 10 days
Response by poster: Oh, and additionally - she won't sign a consent form for anyone else to talk to her doctors about her care. They know the situation, though, so they're going to keep her there as long as they can.
posted by Hwaet at 2:30 PM on September 3, 2010
posted by Hwaet at 2:30 PM on September 3, 2010
Response by poster: Source:http://www.vda.virginia.gov/pdfdocs/Guardbook.pdf
Thanks - we read through that before and we're hoping we can find something a little less general or more anecdotal. We're unsure how broad of a category "incapacitated" is, and whether something like forcing her to leave the state is acceptable in these situations.
posted by Hwaet at 2:34 PM on September 3, 2010
Thanks - we read through that before and we're hoping we can find something a little less general or more anecdotal. We're unsure how broad of a category "incapacitated" is, and whether something like forcing her to leave the state is acceptable in these situations.
posted by Hwaet at 2:34 PM on September 3, 2010
You might want to call the National Association for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), whose headquarters are located in VA. Their information line is 1 (800) 950-NAMI (6264).
posted by desjardins at 2:34 PM on September 3, 2010
posted by desjardins at 2:34 PM on September 3, 2010
Lawyer. Lawyer lawyer lawyer lawyer lawyer. One specializing in family/medical law. Have you already contacted one, who wasn't able to help?
posted by IAmBroom at 5:01 PM on September 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by IAmBroom at 5:01 PM on September 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
I agree with IAmBroom, you want a lawyer who is experienced in this area to make sure you don't make any mistakes in handling this.
posted by alms at 6:24 PM on September 3, 2010
posted by alms at 6:24 PM on September 3, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
If the adult in need of protective services:
• is incapacitated;
• is experiencing an emergency;
• lacks the capacity to consent to protective services needed to
address the emergency;
• and, the proposed order is substantially supported by the findings
of the local department of social services that has investigated the
case,
an emergency or temporary guardian may be appointed for fifteen days. The
purpose of the fifteen day guardianship is to designate a guardian to handle the
emergency by authorizing the needed protective services.
For an emergency or temporary guardian, an employee from the local
department of social services must go to the Circuit Court and request that a
guardian be appointed for the purpose of handling the emergency. The guardian
so appointed can act to correct the conditions causing the emergency. If
necessary the period of time for which the guardian was appointed can be
extended by the court for another five days upon showing to the court that
continuation of the original order is necessary to remove the emergency.
Source:http://www.vda.virginia.gov/pdfdocs/Guardbook.pdf
posted by nestor_makhno at 2:30 PM on September 3, 2010