My dear friend is elderly, legally blind with macular degeneration and has no glasses, cannot walk because she needs special shoes and does not have them, and has no personal cash on her at any time. She made the mistake of asking her granddaughter, and only living relative, to help her w/ her finances. She gave her granddaughter her bank card and now she never sees or hears from her. She needs glasses and shoes desparately and her granddaughter has spent the money she had in the bank. We live in CA.Even if my friend gave her granddaughter POA can I report the abuse to the authorities and have something done? My friend is very protective of her granddaughter who has her only 4 great- grandchildren and will keep them from her if she asks for help, so I am doing it for her. She told me that she would never speak to me again if I called the authorities, but I will risk it to get this stopped.
Before you contact the authorities, you need to be 100% sure, with proof in hand, that something did happen.
If she's living alone, doesn't sound like she should be. APS may be just the ticket in more ways than one.
However, if there is ongoing financial abuse, all your friend has to do is cancel the bank card. She'll still likely be responsible for charges since she voluntarily gave the card to the granddaughter. However, I also question how granddaughter was able to use the charge if her name wasn't on as a signatory.