My wife's aunt is 90 as well. She forgets what she's agreed to, such as allowing someone to drive her. She's lived in the same house for 72 years, and is determined not to leave. She can no longer remain safely alone, due to forgetfulness and severely impaired mobility. She has never been trustful, has no health care surrogate, advocate, or person designated to handle her affairs with a power of attorney. She sometimes thinks my wife already has one, but when told she doesn't, will say she's not signing any more papers. My wife feels that a court action to obtain guardianship would devastate her, She has fired home health agency staff before, but we were able to find her current paid caregivers. If she runs these caregivers off, they'll probably call adult protective services, which really would be the right thing to do. If this happens, based on my understanding, a court appointed guardian will be appointed, and they'll take her money and house, then put her in a nursing home. I'm told that in the Ft. Lauderdale area, judges will not award guardianship to next of kin unless they are "credentialed" guardians. Those we have talked to feel that the legal system in that area is so used to handling these cases, she will lose control of her finances before she knows what happened. She refuses to pay bills unless her minister talks her into it. She has a few neighbors who'll help her out and keep us informed on how she's doing. We're several hundred miles away, and can't monitor her at this distance. Besides her two brothers, this is the last member of her family that's still alive. This aunt has always been a bit childish and histrionic, so it's not always easy to discern what behaviors are the result of dementia, or simply who she is. We're just taking it a day at a time, hoping for the best.