My mother was in the hospital my father in a demented rage, had an attorney remove me as DPOA. After the meeting to revoke me in the hospital my father being so ill had an accident that almost killed me. The attorney that did this is under investigation by the supreme court. The second attorney I had to hire instead putting me back as DPOA told me the only way to do this is petition for guardianship. I wanted what was best for my parents. She said it would be better if she were the conservator so the other attorney wouldn't challenge my request. Now she is spending all there money, and not getting back with me. This has been a nightmare how these people justify their actions I will never understand. Why didn't she add me back as DPOA which would not have cost over 5000.00. To date my parents have spent around 20,000.00 in legal bills they don't have that much money.
Fair warning, this is going to be a harsh read…. You live in TX and are currently unemployed & have health issues. Parents live in VA & your father had you removed as DPOA. By his doing that, he expressed his intention towards you - if at the time he was viewed as competent then legally it doesn't look good for you to be reinstated as DPOA or for G/C. You signed something with an attorney to do a G/C, it implies that you understood what you were doing. Now I don't know what the law is for VA, but for TX by & large if your want to be a G/C you have to show residency in the county where the elder lives if not then you really have to have an attorney to do that in your stead. I've been executrix twice and spent more hours in probate (TX) than I ever thought & probate judges are where G/C hearing are held…they expect the guardian to be accountable, timely and right now here in my court so someone from out of state, unemployed and saying anything in court about issues with attorney's like being "investigated" by the Supreme Court, does not come across as capable for G/C. The G/C is expected to be able to be financially responsible to be appointed, the court can do a credit check on you and if there is something amiss…bad credit report, old felony or your kids have been in juvee court, your getting state aid, then you are kinda toast on being G/C. I would suggest that you carefully think about your situation and what could be an issue for the judge before you do anything else in going after becoming the G/C
About the money being spent, the G/C is required by the court to do reporting. Probate is all open records too. So you can go on-line and get a copy of any reporting done. If you don't have a copy of the G/C orders, you should definitely order those - if on-line it will be very cheap download. You can also monitor the courthouse dockets for the next hearing date for your parents G/C. You can & should be there to ask ? or further details on anything you find to be of concern. Now whether or not the judge, agrees with you is a whole other thing.
The G/C could well be doing a deliberate spend-down of their funds so that they can get emergency placement in a NH under a "ward of the state" order. 20K for legal for a G/C seems within the norm for legal costs too.
You're right to be very concerned and you need to look upon this attorney as the enemy. Again, not knowing a lot about this stuff myself I would suggest that you call Adult Protective Services and report this attorney. Financial fleecing of an elderly person is abuse. But you will get some great suggestions here. I'm so sorry you're in this position. If caregiving weren't hard enough, right? Hang in there.
Is your father competent? Can he be reasoned with to reexamine his decision to remove you as his POA? To seek guardianship will be costly for you if you seek it. You will be reimbursed if your father is awarded to you. Will he be?
My biggest question is if he is not competent, how could he remove you?
My mother has been a pain in my a**. I have talked to her for years about her POA not having an alternate on it. If my brother were to die, I would have to seek guardianship. She is sound of mind and she refuses to listen to my concerns. So recently I made the decision to let her reap her rewards. The courts will take care of her and justly so.