My stepmother, 82, has dementia. Her daughter (mystepsister) has power of attorney. POA has numerous unpaid bills for which she is responsible, in the tens of thousands of dollars. I live in a different state than they. I suspect that my stepmother is being financially exploited by her daughter and see a need to step in, but do not know what to do or how to proceed. I have limited income and cannot afford expensive legal assistance. What else can I do to ensure that my stepmother is not financially exploited?
In the event there is NO POA and there are disagreements between family members about finances and health care, a Conservatorship may have to done. A conservatorship is basically a durable POA that is court approved because the incapacitated person (conservatee) cannot make that decision for themselves.
In the above case, it appears the county petitioned and was granted conservatorship.
The issue could blow up in your face, however, doing something about it would be better than just worrying. You should contact the proper authorities in your country (Sorry, I am not familiar with the laws of your state, as I live in Singapore) and have this reported, however, before doing this, perhaps you should try talking to her about it and confirm things for yourself, before you take any legal actions.
God bless.
Yeah, right.
APS should be abolished.
My brother(s) (both were addicted to the money) stole several hundred thousand dollars from her, the theft continued even to the point of denying her money for her nursing care (they needed their early "inheritance" more, she was going to die anyways) It took me a long time before I finally caught on.
My mom's story is a warning to all to be vigilant! Don't look the other way or think that signs or your gut intuition of financial abuse shouldn't be investigated today! Family "white-collar crime" like this is 99% ignored by law enforcement, usually you are left paying exhorbitant legal bills for a civil case but the perpetrator has already spent the money so there is nothing left to recover. Because I delayed, my mom risks facing running out of money for her care in her final days.
In the end, there's really not much you can do. My recommendation would be to stay out of it after you've reported it to authorities.
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