<div>Hello everyone, my name is Julia, I am raising funds for my disabled mum to prevent her from being evicted.
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<div>My mother has been suffering from unremitting paranoid schizophrenia since 2002 and has been officially permanently incapacitated since 2008, when I became her official carer instead of her husband, my dad (he was unable to deal with the bureaucracy). She is officially disabled and lives alone in a flat in Riga, Latvia.
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<div>For a few years she was treated in a psychiatric hospital and took medication. After a while she decided not to take medication anymore and her condition worsened. Several psychiatric examinations were conducted, and it was clear and obvious that she was unable to understand her own thoughts and actions. In Latvia, the law respects people’s free will so no one, me included, could do anything against my mum’s own will, even if her decision not to follow her psychiatrist’s advice and not to take the medication didn’t serve her at all.
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<div>In 2010, holding a bachelor’s degree in languages and linguistics, I immigrated to the UK to build a career and finally live my own life. As a carer, I received mum’s pension, paid all her bills every month for several years and transferred the rest to her account. While I was away, I switched care to my father who also lives in Latvia. This was recommended by my therapist. We were unaware at the time, and were not informed, that something had changed in the law and as a result the care department (the court of Orphans) made a very bad decision to give my mum’s pension directly to her from March 2020. During these 4.5 years, my mum in her schizophrenic mind-set, avoided paying bills, did not take advice or direction from her family and spent her money on unimportant things that were fuelled by her mental illness. As a result, she is now in a 8000 EUR debt (1500 for gas supply, 1500 for landline and internet (Lattelecom), the remainder is water, electricity, heating and council tax). A couple of thousands of court summons need to be paid as well (and these amounts for missed payments are growing every day) and no one cares about what caused accumulation of all these debts in the first place. I tried to explain and asked to lower these summons but received nothing else but robotic answers from rigid systems.
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<div>Since 2020, to me and my dad’s enquiries, my mum said she was paying bills which was not true. When my dad attempted to investigate the situation officially, his attempts were rejected as my mum is the flat’s official owner, despite him being an official carer. My mum, meanwhile, was hiding all the bills from my dad, and spent a lot of money on lawyers in attempts to gain justice over her ‘enemies’, which were really paranoid thoughts created by her own mental condition. With mum’s serious diagnosis, these lawyers took advantage of her when they knew they couldn’t do anything for her.
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<div>It was impossible to control her actions nor ask questions or agree on anything. She had full freedom of action despite having an official carer. There was no way for my dad, her official carer, to prevent my mum from spending the money either - court decision didn’t allow him to interfere, my mum was unrestrained although it was clear that the law did not consider a mental illness like schizophrenia and the consequences of such a diagnosis.
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<div>Since then and now, the housing management began a court process; the court hearing will be held on 25th February 2025 and if her full debt of 5000 EUR isn’t paid (gas supply and Lattelecom need to be paid separately), she’ll get evicted from her flat. In August 2024, after 4.5 years, the court finally reconsidered their decision from 2020 and gave my dad, her official carer, half of mum’s pension (250 euros) which will be just enough to pay her current bills so that the debt does not continue to increase.
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<div>In November 2024, I went to Riga to try to help my mum save her flat (get a lawyer, collect papers etc.) since my dad is computer-illiterate and struggles without help. Meanwhile, my mum doesn’t understand that she will get evicted and lives in her own distorted reality. When I was in Riga, I did everything in my power to help my mother in this situation, so if a miracle does not happen, she will lose her apartment - that's a fact.
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<div>There are so many details to this complicated case, it is difficult to contain them all to this page. A few notable explanations include:
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<div>- Social services and benefits in Latvia are very limited on how much they can help. The issue; European laws and a lack of funds.
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<div>- The psychiatric clinic doesn’t do anything, no treatments are being offered, and no one can do anything against my mum’s will and without her signature, even with an official carer.
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<div>- Unlike U.K., no one in Latvia can be sectioned even in a very bad condition unless they put their signature and agree on a treatment.
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<div>- The court system is coming up with robotic and rigid decisions that are impossible to follow and implement in real life. My father has brought this case to court five times in the last 4.5 years, each time bringing to attention this growing debt, but no one did anything about it – there are massive delays of court proceedings. Execution of their obligations happens without them taking responsibility. The court system is just inadequate and inhuman.
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<div>- Carers in Latvia have limited rights: according to the law, a carer cannot take her for treatments without her consent, and no one can force her to pay utility bills and take medication.
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<div>- The apartment is my mother's property, she inherited it from her parents. Her carer has no rights to it. Any actions with the apartment are possible only with the permission of the court of Orphans and their active participation.
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<div>- The Court of Orphans, from my perspective, have turned out to be a dysfunctional and incompetent organisation that does not help incapable people or carers. They failed to inform us that when we switched carers from me to my dad 4.5 years ago, new laws would mean my mum would receive her money directly. They have avoided all responsibility since then and been very difficult to contact or work with.
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<div>- My lawyer has brought clarity to the situation - that I have exhausted all my options in this case and did everything I could from my end.
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<div>My mother is a good person. She always had a kind and loving personality when it was possible to separate it from her illness. She is well educated, worked as a finance specialist in a bank before retiring, paid taxes. She experienced lots of injustice in her life as well as living in a challenging time when the Soviet Union collapsed. Perhaps life events triggered something when her illness gradually began to develop and manifest, this remains unclear.
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<div>My father is an honest and kind person. He was ready to help my mother and has helped her to the detriment of his own health and life. Due to my mum’s condition, they no longer live together but will see each other periodically.
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<div>The system is trying “to protect” people’s rights, probably because there were some cases of people taking advantage of vulnerable people in the past. But the system is rigid and did not consider the circumstances around this case.
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<div>And of course, it has been a very bad combination of things when all the doors were closed for my mum to receive any appropriate help on time. My lawyer said that the decision that the court has made was a very bad choice and there were certainly better choices and a better outcome for my mum. It is not her fault after all that she spent all her money, she is a vulnerable human being, and the government should have looked after her and protect her from herself, especially given that her official carer had limited rights.
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<div>The housing management rejected our applications for 24-36 monthly payments twice and want us to pay the entire debt which my father and I cannot pay ourselves. There will be a court hearing in February 2025, if the debt remains, as a result, the eviction process will begin, and my mother will lose her apartment.
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<div>In September 2024, I graduated as a psychotherapist and was about start my private practice. Given these circumstances, currently I have not found the capacity to support others — it is hard to find words to describe how this situation has affected me emotionally, mentally and physically and what impact it had and still has on my life. My hope is that when this situation will be resolved, I can get my energy back and start supporting people again.
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<div>I have always learned to rely on myself since early years and now, I don’t know what to do. I’ve never been in such a situation before. I would be very grateful if anyone could help us. If you do need any additional information or clarification, please let me know.
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<div>All raised funds will go to pay the debt, summons, lawyer services. Any extra money raised will be used to repair mum’s flat as it is in a dreadful condition, and to her future care home.
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<div>Since my dad will receive half of mum’s pension from January 2025, he will pay her current bills so this won’t happen again.
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<div>Please share this to help raise awareness and bring attention to a serious issue in the law in Latvia so it can be resolved as soon as possible.
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<div>I hope by raising awareness, we can help other people in similar situations in Latvia as well as challenge both the law and the court systems that need to change.
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<div>Thank you for reading…
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Prevent my disabled mum from eviction

Prevent my disabled mum from eviction

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