My parents made sure everything is equally split between my brother and I. We both have POA. He lives minutes from them. I’m 5 hrs by plane. I feel the influence he is directing them with is self serving and counter productive. Is there anything I can do to intervene?
What type of influence? Is he taking/bilking money out of them? Is he isolating them? Refusing meds and/or doctor visits?
What is their condition(s)? Are they mentally competent or not?
Being POA, you should have every right to anything he is privy to, such as medical status/treatments and finances.
If you have serious concerns, consulting with an EC attorney would be advisable.
IF somehow you can either by yourself or through this attorney find out if he is abusing his "privilege" (POA grants one the ability to make financial decisions when the principal can no longer do this or consult with medical care/treatment, but it does NOT give one god-power over anyone!), you could apply for guardianship, which will revoke all POAs. It is costly (if parents have assets, they can be used) and time consuming. It can also lead to a rift between you and your brother, but the primary concern is for the parents care and well-being. IF they are deemed cognitively impaired, you are more likely to gain guardianship. If it is only your brother taking advantage of them and they are just blindly going along, it may be more difficult.
It really depends a lot on what is really going on AND how much you can prove.
From 5 hours away, there's little you can do because you do not have eyes on the ground. You can hire an elder law attorney to request an accounting of what your brother has done and spent as POA and get the financial books to be opened to you. You can ask the attorney about hiring eyes on the ground for which *you* pay in the form of a caregiver to visit your parents on a schedule. You also can resign in writing as co-POA if all of this is too much for you to handle.