People working at the Baker Act facility are not your friend.

In this video, I’m here to tell you that the people who work at Baker Act facilities are not your friends. I’ve had a number of cases where I was retained to secure somebody’s release, and in the middle of this, somebody from the bankrupt facility called my client and said, “If you sign this documentation, your loved one will be out the next day.” So they went ahead and signed it, and then I found about it after. I said to the client, “You hired me. I’m your lawyer, so why would you ever sign documentation without consulting me?” The client’s response was, “I got this really friendly call from this very nice person, and they said they were here to help me. They wanted to see my loved one go home and be well. They said if I just signed this documentation, they’d be coming out in a couple of days.”

I said, “Well, based on what you’ve told me, the documentation you signed is the documentation for voluntary admission.” What does that mean? It means that they automatically got another 24 hours to hold your loved one, and until they revoke your consent, that 24 hours is going to continue to roll over. The facility loves that because they do not have to court and prove that your loved one meets the criteria. It’s a way to pull a fast one and get your loved one to stay legally without them even having to go to court, without a judge knowing what’s going on. That is not voluntary consent; it is coerced, and it’s illegal. So, when you are dealing with a Baker Act facility, however friendly they may seem, if your loved one is stuck there, they are not your friends. You need to consult with a lawyer.