My sibling and I have always shared POA responsibility for mom, both financial and health care. Mom lived with me for almost two years, and now she has been with my sibling for almost one year. My sibling informed me she is creating a trust for mom’s estate (with attorney who is personal friend) and I’m to be eliminated as POA. It will be solely my sibling as POA for the trust. When I pushed back and said that I was very hurt and upset, she got extremely angry with me. Mom is really unable to make any decisions at this point and she has not asked for the trust to be created, it’s all my sibling. Mom will do anything she is asked to do and sign anything. To me, this is borderline financial elder abuse. Can you please offer advice to me? Thank You
That said, neither a PoA nor a will/trust can be altered after a person is mentally incompetent to legally sign it. As has been said by others, an attorney who is doing this work is in violation of their law license.
That said, I have to wonder if the writer really understands the terminology and legality. It may be that "POA" was used as a term between siblings without any signed document. It may also be that the mother is now incompetent and needs a conservatorship. THAT would be a legal area in which the sibling's attorney can work.
Step 1: ensure you know the language and law.
Step 2: pull out the legal paperwork that your mom has signed, and the medical diagnoses your mom has which indicates her mental competence.
Step 3 and 4: Contact your siblings attorney to notify them of your documentation and give them your attorney's name and contact information.
Step 5: draft your extemporaneous notes and have no further contact with your sibling on this topic.
As others have said, get your own attorney, and if you can find out who your sister is using, you can contact him to let him know your mother has been diagnosed with cognitive impairment and is not competent to make legal decisions. He can sit with that and decide if his law license is worth the fee he'll get for setting up a trust that isn't valid.
This is sad, to have families torn apart by stuff like this--yet it goes on all the time. It seems that talking to mom is out of the question--right?
You best arm yourself with a lawyer.
A person cannot take POA away from someone and they can't make themselves POA. Only the 'intended' party. And if she's not able to make decisions--your sister's attorney is complicit in fraud. Perhaps they don't KNOW that mom isn't able to make her own decisions.
We DO have 2 poa's serving together. One YB is Medical and the other is financial. They work together, I guess. (I'm just a girl and you know how stupid we girls are.)
I would file a complaint with the BAR association against this attorney. They need to be stopped from exploiting a vulnerable senior in the name of friendship.
I would schedule some free consultations with attorneys and find out how to protect your mom. Start with a CELA and ask them if this is in their realm of practice, if not, ask for referrals and what type of attorney you need.
Your sister CAN NOT remove you from POA. Only you or mom can change that fact.
Because it is unclear what is going on here, I would hesitate to give any advice other than to see an attorney now for yourself, to comb out how things ARE NOW, and how they might change.
It is unusual, whether POA or Trustee, to have TWO Serving equally at once. Usually it is one serving, and the other the "second" in case needed.
You need an attorney to iron out what is happening now, and what powers the sibling has. Take all current documents with you.
Mom cannot sign Trust documents if she is incompetent. A competent attorney creating a Trust for her will want to see and examine her verbally.
If she is competent she can sign anything she wishes to, whether another suggests it or not.
See an attorney.
I would consult an Elder Care Attorney. Possibly the attorney that was seen for the first documents. Or get another.
I am sure there will be a couple other members that will respond with much more detailed responses.
From my own persona knowledge and experience, one PoA cannot remove another PoA without the principle (in this case, your mom) being competent and driving the decision. "Competent" is a sticky term, because a person can have a fair amount of memory loss and still be assessed as competent. It is about comprehension and not retention.
If the family friend attorney is knowingly helping to create a trust for someone who has a medical diagnosis of dementia they could be dis-barred. This is why you need your own attorney, if your understanding of the situation is accurate. And, one individual (your sister) cannot create a trust for someone else (your mom) with her assets and resources. My husband and I have a trust and it can be complicated. If we don't have medical diagnosis of incapacity, then the attorney can do their own assessment for comprehension.
Do you know for a fact that your mother has a medical diagnosis of dementia? If she doesn't but her cognition is as bad as you say, then hire an attorney.