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A few months ago my 93-year-old mom totaled her car in a two-car accident that was her fault. The other driver sued, and the insurance company settled it, to my knowledge. Now mom has received a subpoena to appear in court. With her dementia. I’m not sure that would be a good idea. I will be reaching out to her insurance company, and possibly her attorney. I am wondering what I might be responsible for as her agent. Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

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You are responsible for nothing financially. I would call the Court house that you will be going to and explain that she has Dementia and how would that effect the proceedings. You may have to supply a doctor's letter stating that Mom is incompetent to understand what is going on.

Abzu makes a good point. Why was something not done after the first accident? Why was her license not taken away and the car made undriveable. Was DMV made aware of her Dementia? Was her doctor asked to report her to DMV?
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tagyoureit Jul 2023
Thank you. Your first paragraph is good advice and I may have to use some of it. I was able to reach her insurance company and they are putting an attorney on the case immediately . None of the questions in your last paragraph are applicable. There was no first accident. This was the first - and last - accident of her lifetime. She had not yet been diagnosed with dementia at the time of the accident. There had been no reason to talk to doctor or DMV about anything.
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Please check with your own attorney, but I will convey what my attorney has told me when I inquired about the same question.

I am responsible if I knowing allow my mother to do something harmful and do not do not what is nesscary to at least have preventative measures in place.

In my mom's case she nearly burned down her apartment. Had she burned down her apartment and someone got injured if they tried to sue in a civil sense they would be hard pressed to get anything out of her in the civil sense cause she has not had a documented case of her acting in such a way. The fact she has dementia and something is considered possible or common is not grounds to place fault on her or the agent responsible for her care.

Now if she did something similar again and I did not make adjusts that is a different story. More or less first offense if you can reasonably prove you had no idea she was capable of x you have a reasonable defense against such suits in a civil sense.

Criminal is a different beast.
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Abzu00 Jul 2023
Granted this all assumes you are considerd her legal guardian / agent.
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You may be responsible if you are knowingly allowing your mother to drive a motor vehicle when she has dementia! I'd be calling attorneys right now if I were you.

Good luck.
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Isthisrealyreal Jul 2023
Unless mom has been legally declared incompetent I am betting that she alone is responsible for her driving.

My dad had vascular dementia, I turned him in to the DMV and he was legally allowed to drive until he was dead. He was a talented showtimer for certain.
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Get in touch with the insurance company, they should be representing their client, your mom.
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tagyoureit Jul 2023
Thank you, this is helpful. It’s exactly what I did, and they are on it, with a copy of the summons.
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