Has anyone ever come home and found elderly relative dumped at their front door?

To me, this is totally wrong, but then again, it's me. Don't know what rights you have, but have you thought about returning the favor? It is amazing how much greed enters into caring for another person. Who has the POA for this person?
Good luck with your situtaion, keep us posted, please

Of course this is illegal. Right from the start of the other relative "taking" the relative and getting all their belongings. First and foremost, if you think this is happening, report it to your local elder services organization. They will file an elder at risk report and investigate. If they think the elder is in danger, being coerced or robbed, they will take action. Also the drop off is negligence and also putting the elder at risk. Again file a report with the agency and/or call police. negligence/neglect of an elder is a criminal act. They should have to answer for their heartless behavior!

Call the police and don't let them in the house and take it from there just make sure they are safe. Allege theft and abuse.

Did this actually happen? Or is it a "what if"?

The legalities all stem from whether the original caregiver had DPOA or not. If they didn't, they would have to go to court to prove the 2nd caregiver/schemer were "running through" or "stealing" the money. If 2nd found guilty, and 1st caregiver was willing, the judge would most likely grant DPOA to the original caregiver in hopes what money is left would be enough to care for the parent. If 1st could prove that parent was incapable of making decisions, it is possible, but not likely, that the judge would charge 2nd with fraud, petty theft, grand larceny, etc. for the obvious mishandling of the parent's funds. But again, it's hard to prove just when the parent was no longer able to make these decisions if the 1st caregiver hadn't already pursued getting the DPOA based on mental acuity of the parent.

Now, if 1st caregiver did have PDOA based on parent's mental state, then the only way for the "schemer" to get control of the assets was either through the courts by proving the original DPOA/caregiver unfit or by down right fraud. If they did it legally through the courts, and the original caregiver can afford to and has the proof, they can take the second caregiver/DPOA back to court to try and get DPOA returned to them - but it's usually a he-said-she-said kind of thing and only if it's blatant abuse of the DPOA would the judge overturn the judgment. More likely, since 2nd proved 1st incompetent or greedy, then 1st went back and proved same of 2nd, the judge would appoint a patient advocate as the DPOA and both 1st and 2nd would lose what was left as well as any rights to choose how parent was cared for. Of course, if 2nd gains DPOA fraudulently, the legalities range from petty theft to grand larceny, fraud, possible abuse and neglect charges and a host of other charges. 2nd could go to jail, but the money's gone, and really no way to recoup it.

That's why I always recommend that when a parent begins to show signs of needing long-term care, all the siblings, spouse and parent involved should sit down with an Elder Care Lawyer and get everyone's responsibilities in writing. Decide who the DPOA is as a group, and appoint others as the watchdog. They should also be able to 'drop in" on the caregiver to check on their parent. Though this is a huge imposition on the caregiver's life, and it's already upside down just from taking on this burden, it's necessary. And, all siblings should know they have to PAY the sibling taking care of the parent and help with the parent's other costs as well, like medication and doctor fees, clothing, gas for getting to and from doctor appts, etc. They should also know that one weekend a month they have to become the caregiver to give the primary caregiver a break. They should also know that they need to PAY for the primary caregiver's family to have two week long vacations a year to keep from burning out. And they should also be prepared if the primary caregiver has children, to come over and sit with the parent when primary's children have special occasions like a soccer game or are in a school play. The burden/gift of taking care of one's parent should never be dumped on one sibling, it should be shared among all of them, EQUALLY. Which means if a sibling lives out of town and can't do the drop bys and relief weekends and cover special events, they need to open their wallet WIDE.

Keep in mind, a sitter costs anywhere from $10-$50 an hour and the primary is doing this 24/365. Nursing homes cost anywhere from $4,000.00 to $15,000.00 a month, so giving the primary a break, covering the expenses your parent has added to their life is mandatory, such as food, clothing, medicines, doctors bills, etc. should be covered by the remaining siblings since the primary caregiver can no longer work and earn a living, some small wage needs to be mandated as well. Remember, it's far cheaper to pay the primary a 40-hour minimum wage salary (or even just $500 a month) and provide the above list of "breaks" and "financial expenditures" than it is to fork over $4,000 a month to a Nursing Home and still have to pay extra for the parent's clothes, medicines, doctors fees, medical tests, laundry, toiletries, etc. Keep in mind, if the parent wants cable and a phone, those fees are NOT included in the Nursing Homes fees either.

Of course, there is also the problem of physical and emotional abuse to the parent. Dropping them off, without knowing if they would be able to get into the house is definitely abuse and neglect and will get them in a heap of trouble. The immediate action is to take the parent to the doctor to be sure they are not suffering from lack of their medications, malnourished, dehydrated or sick from an untreated illness. You do this for two reasons, first, it's critical to be sure the parent is not in imminent danger. The second is for documentation purposes. While you are at the hospital waiting to get the doctor's results, call the police and inform them of the suspected neglect and abuse and that you "came home to find them on your doorstep" and brought the parent to the ER to get them checked over. The police will take a report from the doctor attending and will be able to pursue the matter much more quickly than filing reports with the state. And if anything is seriously wrong, you'll have the doctors taking care of the situation hopefully before it is life-threatening and the doctors will stand with you when you talk to the police. In fact, I would call the police en route and tell them you were too afraid to wait for their arrival and for them to meet you at the hospital.

It makes me sad.People are not to be dumped.:(

I've had the opposite. I have a sleazy relative that has used all of their parent's money and now has 'kidnapped' my dad. My dad believes that he is needed to help his elder sibling (she is 95). He left my care and moved in with her. There is nothing I can do legally. I'm sure that when he is left penniless, he will be returned to me. Sadly, dad has early stages of dementia, but is still considered legally competent meaning that any money he gives over is legally done. Not against the law, but none-the-less unethical.

Of Carol that's so sad...How much help other than financial can your Dad be to them?

Assandache7, not much help at all. He can barely stand without his can. To compound it, his license was revoked. When he was with me, I was able to prevent him from driving, but he is now living 10 hours from me and they allow him to drive. He takes his sister to the doctor, church, etc. In other words, my cousins don't have to. I am worried sick about him wrecking and injuring ( or worst) himself or others. Heartbreaking.

I can do that?

this has not happened (at least to me, and not very likely either).
however, I have a tendency to 'think out' situations that are hypothetical and damned if eventually I don't read about it actually happening. .(hey, some years back there was some big story about some guy in a wheelchair who was dumped at a hospital entrance or something like that: it is long ago enough I don't recall the details)
what I asked is hypothetical if anyone had had that happen.

Accidentally cut myself off. Don't know if my post went on her or not.
Wanted to say I did have a MIL sent to my home by a daughter. She was only about 47 and her son told her she had to figure out how to make it on her own. She did. Spent her last years in a NH but if I'd stayed in the marriage I probably would have been caring for her. Whew! (didn't like her). I hope your scenario never comes to your door, but as noted before, prepare in advance for these possibilitys. (or encourage someone you trust to do it).

I have found that people do not want the most useful answer for many of these situations: Nursing home, public aid. That's it. Sorry. I have never promised my parents I wouldn't put them in a nursing home because it's probable they will end up there. My mom died in one undergoing 'rehab' (uh-huh) It's just a sad fact that we can't take care of them at a certain point.

Sounds like someone is in big trouble! If this happened, you need to call Adult Protective Services. It is totally illegal to to take financial advantage. However, you are not alone. Usually family does not report another family member, but do you really want your family member to continue their path of exploitation? They need help to stop and realize why it is wrong. (maybe).
1st of all is find help for your mom. Elder Services is available in all states. They can be a resource. Honor your mom by protecting her.

In a way, yes, this happened to us. Mom was in ALF on the east coast. After illness, she got to feeling well enough to travel. Sister sent her out to us on the other coast with a one way ticket. The understanding was that she could stay a month or two - or even thru the winter... A week later sis said that she gave up the room at the ALF & basically said that it was our turn.
We had actually wanted her here to start with - but needed to make preparations, - wanted to add a room on, for her, etc.... yeah - I use the words "dumped on us". It was rough go for a while, especially since Mom thought I was in on the conspiracy of getting her out here. She lasted almost 13 months & passed this past Monday with cardiac arrest while at the eye Dr's.
Now I am making service arrangements around sis's upcoming scheduled cancun cruise! Unbelievable!

We're going ok, & glad we stuck through it all, altho we did have quite a few rough spots along the way. It actually got easier as the months went by. It was mostly my dealing with my own "issues" from way back... So have no regrets.

Oreo1592 - Do not schedule your Mother's funeral around your sister's cruise. Your Mother deserves the respect of being buried in a timely fashion and your sister's cruise can be cancelled due to a death in the family. She can get a refund as soon as she gets a copy of the Death Certificate sent to them. Unless she went the cheapo route and didn't get the travel insurance or it's in the fine print. Either way, your Mother is your first concern here, not your sister's cruise. So sorry this happened to you and God Bless you and your family for your loss.

unikornfairy: No, I'm not scheduling it around sis' cruise. I figured she "dumped" mom on us, - so now I'm doing the arrangements the way I want. I've got our church schedule & pastor's schedule to deal with & that's plenty enough. It got settled today: Oct 19th. Thanks for your thoughts.

Very good. However, be prepared for a lot of hell from Sis.
Taking bets that some sort of stink will be raised: sis will think she deserves more than she should. (based on reading other posts around here and personal experience).

So glad you've gotten everything taken care of, and so sorry you're having to deal with all this. and Twocents is right, be prepared, your Sis will probably throw a hissy fit on you. Just calmly walk away. You did the right thing and don't deserve to have to put up with your sister's problem with it. God Bless You!

I don't expect problems from Sis, but I am very well aware that stranger things have happened in the best of families. There's not all that much, but I already told hubby that it there is the least bit of stink, I am walking away from all of it.... A few bucks doesn't matter to me. We were actually thinking that bro would be the one to cause a stink, but so far, anyway, he is laying rather low.

Besides if sis or bro do throw a hissy fits about anything - I've got a few things I've save in my "hidden arsenal" so to speak, that I can bring up. Letters mom wrote, but never mailed... Mom said she wanted to change her will after being "dumped" on us but we never "got around" to taking her to an atty for this... etc So as long as they behave themselves, we'll get along.

Thanks for the advice & alert!

It has probably happened to someone, somewhere. I think it's more typical for the caregiver to carry on caregiving, doing all the real work, while the conniver takes over finances etc on the down low. When the money has run out, the conniver leaves it to the caregiver to figure out how to support the relative.