My youngest brother is the baby and has always been protected by mom. He's been in prison most if his life but was released about a year ago. Since then, he has been stealing her money, opening credi cards in her name, stealing her pain meds, and coerced her into signing over the deed to her house. She is 94 and will protect him no matter what. My concern is that when he has run through her money who is going to take care of her. Even if we (my brothers and sisters) turn him in, she will lie to protect him and will be devastated at what we've done to her baby. He is her sole caregiver by choice as he tries to keep us away. And she is mentally competent for her age. Any ideas?
The conundrum though is that your mother is apparently competent so other than guardianship (which is a distinct possibility), there are no obvious grounds to get him out of the picture. Your mother could affirm that she's given him authority to tap into her finances.
Swindling her out of her house is definitely abuse, but the issue is how to prove it, especially when she'll compensate for him.
There might be some grounds on which you can force access to her; I would see if a police officer can offer some insight on this level.
So then look at the second level. Can you prove that he's stolen pain meds? Is he selling them? If so, contact law enforcement. If he's used in the past and been caught by law enforcement, that would be reflected in his record.
I don't mean to pry, but what other offenses has he committed? Is there a history of fraud, of theft, of substance abuse? If so, those would actions he must avoid to remain out on parole.
Is her house in disrepair? Any hoarding, health issues? If so, APS could be used as leverage to get access to the house, and to focus on his lack of proper care for her.
The third and perhaps more practical way is to contact his parole officer. First search online for the corrections department website that lists parolees and the terms of their parole.
Hopefully, there will be limitations there that can be used. If access to anyone's finances is a parole violation, contact the parole officer. If he's selling pain meds, let the parole officer know.
Is he required to work? Does he have a job? Is he using controlled substances, whether he's stolen them from you mother or got them somewhere else? Those could also be parole violations.
You could also include any other information detrimental to him which might not necessarily be a parole violation. Parole officers are pretty savvy; they can tell if a parolee is likely to offend, especially a repeat offender.
If he's been in prison most of his life, he's probably a repeat offender. That might be the quickest and easiest way to get him out of the picture.
I do think that an argument could be made that, while not necessarily compromised by dementia, your mother is compromised by inability to clearly see the situation, by being unable to continue enabling him.
There might, however, be a risk to you and your siblings if you challenge your mother. So you'll need to restrain yourself from criticizing the bad brother and gain her confidence so that you can get access to information that could put him back in prison.
It's sad when a family situation slips into this kind of deceit, but in the long run, it's important for your mother's care, and that I think would be the important issue if you and your siblings apply for guardianship. And if you can get your brother's parole violated, that might be the time to move for guardianship.
It might also be the time to get a restraining order against him.
There is a reason he was in prison. Sounds like it didn't do anything to change his ways. Somebody must talk to your mother in private to notify her of the things he has done. If she decides to protect him even though he is putting her into financial ruin and she is made aware of everything he has done, that is her choice. She must understand that "you" aren't doing anything to her baby----his actions are doing it to himself. If he was released from prison about a year ago, then I assume he must be on parole/probation. Stealing money, identity theft & stealing pain meds are all parole/probation violations. All you have to do is give his parole officer a call & tell him what your brother has been doing. Let the parole officer know about how your mother will lie for him to protect him, and you are calling in an effort to prevent your brother from bankrupting your mother. If you have documents to prove what he has done, you can show them to the parole officer to support your statements.
He is her sole caregiver now---who took care of your mother before he was let out of prison? Did any of her kids have financial POA? Did any of the kids know the contents of her will?
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