My mother-in-law has been somewhat incoherent for some time now. She is good at fooling a lot of people but since we left she has had more and more family realizing we weren't just out to get her. She is going to fight us but this needs to be done as she has already ended up in the hospital three times for a cumadin accidental overdose. How do I go about this in PA and how do I go about this nicely?:confused:

Then you need to start the process legally - find an attorney experienced in elder law and explain what you have just stated here. If you are looking for guardianship, there would be a petition made to the court. There would be a guardian ad liteum named for your Mother, a court visitor and your own attorney. The court can ask for medical documentation, psychological evaluation, etc. in order to determine what kind of guardianship would be granted, if any.

My mom gave me power of attorney early on, before she became ill. That enabled me to handle her affairs in a legal manner without interference. I have since done this for my son so its in place when he needs it. But at this point I think shygrneyzs has a good solution.

Overdosing on cumadin (a very strong blood thinneer) is positive life threatening.

Thank you For your help. I am now contacting attorneys to begin this process. jnoopers:)

You might want to contact her doctors as well. They can be very helpful. She may have depression or dimmentia, or if she's abusing her medication, her behavior might be related to that, too. It's amazing how many medications some elderly people are on and if they are not good advocates for themselves, they can end up on stuff that doesn't work well together and makes them worse.

I am in the process of trying to get guardianship and conservatorship of my grandmother. Papers have been filed. I don't really have any advise for you, as I feel like I am juggling JELL-O most of the time, but I did want to let you know that you are not alone.