As a 54 year old competent woman what rights do I have in regard to refusing help from Adult Protective Services?

You don't have to cooperate with them if you don't want to. Whether they open a case on you or not is up to them.

I have a bunch of thoughts. One is that you do not want an APS finding that you need help. It could impact your independence. I have heard a number of practitioners recently say they are finding that APS workers sometimes need you to be vulnerable to justify themselves. So how do you head them off? They have a big advantage over me in that they visited you at home. Hard to beat that to make an assessment on whether the adult is slipping into vulnerability. If you say the home needs more cleaning up, then start doing it or even move somewhere that it takes less effort. If you do not have an estate pan, consider getting one. Then, you can show APS you are being responsible about succession planning with your decision making. If something is wrong, you have a fiduciary who can step in so you do not need APS. Why did they come by? Somebody reported a problem. Find out what triggered them contacting you and address it. If you house is cluttered, is it impacting neighbors? However you live, do not let it negatively impact others or APS could get a call. Another issue you really should consider is that we are often the last people to know that our decision making is slipping to the point we are vulnerable. Is yours? Practitioners are dealing with this all the time and sometimes it is a lot easier and more successful in protecting your independence to say you need help. You are only 54 so it does seem a little premature for you to have some problems but maybe you do and do not realize it. Good luck.

APS does not just open cases out of the blue. Somebody had to report that you are a disabled or elderly person in need of help. By law, APS must investigate and take reasonable steps if it reasonably appears that you are in an unsafe or unsanitary situation or a danger to yourself or others. If APS determines that help is needed, you don't have to agree to it, but APS also doesn't have to accept your determination. If APS determines you need help and your competence appears to be at issue, APS can apply to court for a protective arrangement or full blown guardianship. The court won't force anything on you unless the court determines you are in an unsanitary situation or a danger to self or others but APS' documented determination would carry a lot of weight. It would be a lot better to cooperate and show APS that you don't need help than to fight them and have them apply to court. A local elder law attorney should be able to explain the options and help develop a course of action to head off further APS action. Lawrence Friedman, Bridgewater, NJ. Certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the ABA approved National Elder Law Foundation, former Chair NJ State Bar Association Elder and Disabilities Law Section, Member Board of Consultors of NJSBA Real Property, Trusts & Estates Law Section, Vice Chair Special Needs Law Section of National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, and Master of Laws (L.L.M.) in Taxation from N.Y.U. School of Law. Visit SpecialNeedsNJ.com for articles and Q&A on elder law, special needs, wills, trusts, estates, and tax and SpecialNeedsNJ.com/blog for timely updates. Information on both and SpecialNeedsNJ.com does not constitute legal advice, as it is general in nature and may not apply to your situation or be subject to important changes. No attorney client relationship exists unless set forth in written engagement terms.

Call my office on Monday. I had a case like this couple of month ago when protective services were called on an elderly gentelman and his Neighboor who was taking care of him. One letter from my office did the trick- they left him and his Neighboor alone. My office number is 718-333-2394 and my email is [email protected] Inna Fershteyn 1517 Voorhies Ave, 4 Fl Brooklyn, NY 11235 www.advanced-legal.com

You do not have to accept help from Adult Protective Services (APS) unless there is a court order. In Arizona, if APS receives a report of abuse or exploitation of a vulnerable adult, they are required to investigate. The subject of the investigation, however, does not have to cooperate unless the protective services worker obtains a court order. That court order is called a special visitation warrant and requires an affidavit from the worker that there is a reasonable belief that an adult may be incapacitated and abused, exploited or neglected. If it is determined that the adult is vulnerable and in need of assistance, the protective services worker can file a petition for guardian or conservator for the adult who is incapacitated or in need of protection.

If you are competent, there should be no problem refusing government help. However, you might give thm a phone call and find out what caused them to open a file on you.

You do not have to accept APS services, but I gather from your question that you may be suspected of hoarding and that may be the reason for the complaint and investigation. I often serve as a Guardian ad Litem in NYC landlord/tenant cases, some involving hoarding and APS. They often start with a complaint from a neighbor or landlord. And they also come with concern that the mess is a danger both to your self and to your neighbors. And if the mess creates a noise or a fire hazard, you will really have to get your act together to clean it up. This gets especially tense if you have a rent stabilized apartment and your landlord would love to have you out. Nevertheless, there is no law saying you have to accept APS services or give them any information whatsoever. They can get an order from a judge, which you would then have to potentially follow.