Originally posted by Mardra of Grown Ups & Downs 1/15/2014
Yup folks, there it is, the 18 pages
I have to complete within the next week.
Sure, “the state” mailed them to me postmarked Dec 12th, but you see, to get the full enjoyment from handling this paperwork, I find it best to procrastinate until the last possible moment and complete it in a panic, instead. Sigh.
For starters, every state is different. And as I understand it, perhaps even the districts within each state may have slightly different fingers around our…
It’s one of those things where, sure, I want someone to keep a close eye on anyone handling Marcus’ affairs. Except me – duh. Because clearly I can be trusted, so what’s the problem?
Are you catching any of this? Should I start at the beginning?
Fine.
Sure, “the state” mailed them to me postmarked Dec 12th, but you see, to get the full enjoyment from handling this paperwork, I find it best to procrastinate until the last possible moment and complete it in a panic, instead. Sigh.
For starters, every state is different. And as I understand it, perhaps even the districts within each state may have slightly different fingers around our…
It’s one of those things where, sure, I want someone to keep a close eye on anyone handling Marcus’ affairs. Except me – duh. Because clearly I can be trusted, so what’s the problem?
Are you catching any of this? Should I start at the beginning?
Fine.
Quinn and I are Marcus’ legal guardians. We made this
decision to prevent, heaven forbid, “the state” ever making the decision to appoint its own a guardian instead. Ward of the State does not have a good ring to it.
Nebraska keeps a very tight leash on folks who are guardians, particularly regarding finances. The most time consuming portion of the yearly required paper trail is completing the detailed, to-the-penny, account of Marcus’ incoming and outgoing monies. Now, until Sept of this year
Marcus had a part-time job. In addition to that, he gets a small stipend from SSI, enough to almost cover the cost
of his gym membership and music therapy, almost. So the good news is, the math isn’t hard – there’s not much to divvy up.
It’s mostly just annoying. Marcus clearly does not earn
or bring into our household enough money for anyone to run away with, even just for a good vacation. It’s obvious room, board, food and Broadway shows all come out of the general Sikora till. Yet I not only have to send accounting of every penny but all of his bank statements plus notarized documentation from his bank stating the information I am supplying is real.
Really.
All this so that I can keep the privilege of caring for my own son.
Which makes me extra sad. Because I know the reason for
this is there are bad folks out there, even with their own children, and that sucks.
The other thing is, Quinn and I both get a little paranoid when it comes to paperwork. We don’t love it. And so we think if we dot an i wrong, well, that’s it! Someone
swoops in and takes Marcus away. Our rational brains know that’s silly, but it doesn’t make the formal devil on our shoulder any easier to bear.
Last year was the first year I had to do the money part
of this packet of paperwork because it was Marcus’ first year of income. I did it wrong and received a summons.
Neat.
SO, as is the custom, I then called an attorney who sat
with me and we went over every line to find where I went wrong. Plus he called the courthouse to be sure. He took my new and improved papers to the judge, and all was well.
decision to prevent, heaven forbid, “the state” ever making the decision to appoint its own a guardian instead. Ward of the State does not have a good ring to it.
Nebraska keeps a very tight leash on folks who are guardians, particularly regarding finances. The most time consuming portion of the yearly required paper trail is completing the detailed, to-the-penny, account of Marcus’ incoming and outgoing monies. Now, until Sept of this year
Marcus had a part-time job. In addition to that, he gets a small stipend from SSI, enough to almost cover the cost
of his gym membership and music therapy, almost. So the good news is, the math isn’t hard – there’s not much to divvy up.
It’s mostly just annoying. Marcus clearly does not earn
or bring into our household enough money for anyone to run away with, even just for a good vacation. It’s obvious room, board, food and Broadway shows all come out of the general Sikora till. Yet I not only have to send accounting of every penny but all of his bank statements plus notarized documentation from his bank stating the information I am supplying is real.
Really.
All this so that I can keep the privilege of caring for my own son.
Which makes me extra sad. Because I know the reason for
this is there are bad folks out there, even with their own children, and that sucks.
The other thing is, Quinn and I both get a little paranoid when it comes to paperwork. We don’t love it. And so we think if we dot an i wrong, well, that’s it! Someone
swoops in and takes Marcus away. Our rational brains know that’s silly, but it doesn’t make the formal devil on our shoulder any easier to bear.
Last year was the first year I had to do the money part
of this packet of paperwork because it was Marcus’ first year of income. I did it wrong and received a summons.
Neat.
SO, as is the custom, I then called an attorney who sat
with me and we went over every line to find where I went wrong. Plus he called the courthouse to be sure. He took my new and improved papers to the judge, and all was well.
Hopefully I get it right the first time this year.
I better get to work.