Shari (Zissie) Gitel
zissieg@walla.com
I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of things now. Our third application for legal guardianship (apotroposut) went fairly smoothly. The most involved portion of the process was getting all the paperwork we needed from my sisters who live abroad. It was not complicated, only time-consuming. Once we had all the paperwork in hand, my sister who lives in Israel and I met at court to submit the application.
In my previous experiences in the Jerusalem and Bnei Brak family courts, we had to make several trips to different desks within the building for each portion of the application. In one case we even had to leave the building to make a payment at the local post office and then return to the courthouse to complete the processing. For the most recent application, which we handled in Rishon LeZion, the procedure was far less complicated:
We got there early and were able to get one of the first numbers to be served (from the machine outside the office where you open a file). As soon as the court offices opened for business I was directed to one of the desks for opening a file. I should point out that there were not very many people there, so in any case, it would not have been a long wait, but you cannot count on that all the time. We were advised to get there early, and that is always good advice to follow.
Of course, we were missing some paperwork. We thought we had it all, but, despite what the social worker at the nursing home had told us, there was one form missing. Fortunately, it was a form we could fill out on the spot. The registrar gave us the paperwork and suggested we visit the desk where volunteer law students help customers in completing the forms correctly. Once we finished that, the only remaining item was to have our signatures verified by an attorney who was located directly opposite the desk of the volunteer students. There was a NIS 40 fee for verification of our signatures. Make sure to have your identity card with you for this transaction.
THERE IS A FEE FOR SIGNATURE
AUTHORIZATION
Then back we went to the original registrar with our verified signatures and the requisite form. The registrar was quite pleasant and accommodating, even gave us a blank copy of the missing form to present to the nursing home so the social worker would not omit it the next time someone needed to apply for guardianship. She accepted our payment (NIS 470) for the application by credit card and started to send us on our way. That’s when I noticed that my last name was spelled incorrectly on the application she had typed—never a good sign when dealing with computers. We straightened out that little glitch and were done.
Now we are awaiting the court’s decision, which will take approximately two months. When you make your payment you are given a document with the court case number on it for follow-up. Presumably you can make periodic inquiries as to the status of the case. This also enables you to petition the court to act immediately upon your request in the event an emergency situation arises. The social worker at the nursing home has assured us that she will do the follow-up to make sure that things progress at a decent speed.
In the end we only applied for physical guardianship. It is possible to apply for both physical and financial guardianship, but we chose not to after learning of the problems a friend has had in meeting the court’s requirements for such guardianship. Among other things the court requires opening of a separate guardianship bank account, as well as detailed itemization of income and expenses. Also details of assets for the past seven years have to be itemized. Our friend has no idea how to go about itemizing everything, and doesn’t even know what her parent owned or did not own seven years ago, let alone the value of it. Since I am an authorized signatory on my parents’ checks, we are postponing this aspect of the guardianship, at least for the time being. It just seems like too much additional aggravation if we can get by without it.
KEEPING TRACK OF ALL THE PROCEDURES SOMETIMES FELT LIKE A JUGGLING ACT
Simultaneously we had reapplied to Lishkat Habriut for help in financing payments for the nursing home. For better or for worse, the value of the dollar had dropped dramatically, making it impossible for my parents’ social security income to cover their nursing home care costs. The whole process had to be restarted from scratch—same forms (with a few additional thrown in for good measure), same committee review. It took a little longer than originally promised, but eventually we received the answer we had long awaited: the Ministry of Health would finally assist us in payments. My sister in Israel was assessed a monthly fee based on her income, and my parents would have to pay their social security income to the Ministry of Health. This would cover part of the nursing home fee, while the Ministry of Health would pay the balance, including any medications approved for the “basket of medications.” According to the manager of the nursing home, the Ministry of Health also pays for the patient’s ambulance costs and diapers.
I believe that pretty much brings this tale up to date in my adventures with the various branches of bureaucracy I’ve had to deal with while parenting my parents. There may be more surprises waiting down the road, and you can rest assured that if there are, you will hear about them. It’s been quite a learning experience for me, and I hope you’ve also learned something from my trials and errors. Good luck in your own personal journey down this never boring road. I hope you encounter no bumps or detours, but if you do, and I can be of any help, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Stay tuned for my next post, where I hope to deal with the range of emotions associated with the trauma of caring for a loved one with a deteriorating condition.
And now, I think I’ll work on a project that has been weighing on my mind since I began this journey—getting my own house in order, both literally and figuratively.
TIME TO GET MY OWN HOUSE IN ORDER
I sorely need to learn more about handling family finances, a realm that until now my husband has single-handedly controlled. I’m going to make sure my will is up to date (why else did I send my daughter to law school?). And I’m going to do a clean sweep of all those things I just had to hang onto that in truth I no longer need and just add to the clutter of my home. Last, but not least, I’m going to work off a lot of tension that has built up in my system and find a healthy outlet for all that energy—after all, why else did God create tennis courts? 
Guide to Services for the Aged and Disabled in Israel
© Copyright-2008
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