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Financial/legal support for family member with Bipolar

Kit8Casual Contributor18 Aug 2020, 7:41 pm AEST

Financial/legal support for family member with Bipolar

Hi All, I'm new to the forum. I was hoping to gain some information on any financial & possibly legal advice/support services for people with mental illness.. A family member has recently been diagnosed with bipolar and has now been sectioned. My family are investigating their financial situation & unfortunately it appears they've been in a state of 'mania' spending for quite some time.. we are now receiving everything from speeding fines to hefty bills, contracts signed with telcos for all the latest phones, computers etc, money borrowed from friends etc.. We have no idea how they've managed to spend so much, with absolutely no money (they're incredibly resourceful unfortunately..) -it is very hard to get a straight answer at the moment.. It's now putting extreme stress on our family and is looking like we will have to be responsible in some form or another for these debts.. Is there any institution that specialise in this sort of situation? Do we have any legal rights etc to unwind these business deals, speeding fines etc? Thank you in advance for any advice you may be able to offer!

5 replies

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In response to: Financial/legal support for family member with Bipolar

Unknown userMember18 Aug 2020, 8:04 pm AEST

Re: Financial/legal support for family member with Bipolar

Hi @Kit8 - welcome to the forums!

It's great to have you here and I'm so sorry about what's happening with your family member. It sounds really stressful and it's great that you're looking at different support options. The forum is a great place to share your experiences and give and receive support from the other members. In relation to the questions you have about your situation, you might like to consider contacting your state's free Legal Aid service, which you can easily find by an internet search.

Please feel free to ask the SANE forum team or the members if you need help with how to use the forum. You might like to check out the Guidelines as they can be a pretty useful in understanding how it all works https://saneforums.org/t5/help/faqpage#community-guidelines. Take care and all the best...🌻

In response to: Re: Financial/legal support for family member with Bipolar

Kit8Casual Contributor18 Aug 2020, 8:20 pm AEST

Re: Financial/legal support for family member with Bipolar

Thank you @Former-Member ! That’s a perfect start...really appreciate the advice 😊🙏

In response to: Re: Financial/legal support for family member with Bipolar

Unknown userMember18 Aug 2020, 8:31 pm AEST

Re: Financial/legal support for family member with Bipolar

No worries @Kit8 hopefully it'll be helpful. Take care...🌻

In response to: Re: Financial/legal support for family member with Bipolar

Unknown userMember21 Aug 2020, 10:39 am AEST

Re: Financial/legal support for family member with Bipolar

Hey there @Kit8 just wondering how you have been travelling since your last post? That sounds like a very challenging and emotionally taxing thing to be left to deal with. Certainly Legal Aid are a great option as @Former-Member mentioned. I also wonder if it's worth contacting The National Debt Helpline to see if they have some surface level understanding of the legalities about debts alongside mental health issues, I am sure there will be a route you can take that would take into account his diagnosis. How have you and your family been travelling?

In response to: Re: Financial/legal support for family member with Bipolar

Kit8Casual Contributor30 Aug 2020, 5:29 pm AEST

Re: Financial/legal support for family member with Bipolar

Hi @Former-Member , thank you for checking in, I really appreciate it! It has been a very interesting time - is quite a complex situation with multiple levels to it, as we are discovering day by day... we are receiving amazing support from various professionals, & are just skimming the surface of the financials - that recent link you've provided will come in handy...! It has been a trying time for the family, but we are taking it day by day & remaining optimistic with the current treatment plan/ while trying our best to understand the nature of this condition... Thank you again for the help and support!😊🙏

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