sister used POA to steal mums money. she took vacations to new york, cruises, expensive clothes, wigs, cars, house! mum has alzheimers in nursing home. there are two other siblings. mums will indicate all of her property would be divided among all three children in event of her death. APS findings indicate theft of over 100,000.00 dollars. (she really stole more than that) sister got lawyer who is saying she has right to spend the money because the POA indicates some type of gift clause. Advice please?
Prosecute her.
Anything that was stolen should be deducted from any inheritance and she should be ordered to pay restitution (maybe minus what her portion would be)
And if you take it further a lien could be placed against any of her property so the money stolen would be returned.
*** By the way, do you happen to live in Vermilion Ohio? This would help a lot because there was a POA up there who also may have taken advantage of an Alzheimer's patient who had property on claus road. This would help a lot, because if this happens to be the same person, this can be used to help catch the person doing this to bring them to justice
Another red flag is if the POA has money problems such as lack of money and struggling to stay afloat. somethings to look for are past foreclosures and repossessions for starters. if they just lost a house, you can just about bet they're going to look for another house they can take for free without having to buy it if they can get away with it. If they lost a car, they'll most likely target another car. Yes, POAs can be crooks, be very wary! You never want someone with money problems being POA, especially if they just don't have enough money to get by. you just don't want someone who lacks money taking care of someone with lots of it, that situation is a disaster waiting to happen.
Someone with money issues being someone else's POA is a big red flag and I wish you could've caught this sooner, but at least you caught yours while your loved one was still living whereas I caught what happened after my relative died.
You can just about bet that the POA most likely has access to important papers they can change anytime if they haven't already done it. If they haven't been tampering with important papers, they will and they will most likely be already coercing the patient, especially if there's lots of money involved. Does the patient have life insurance policies? Did they actually work for a very big company that paid very well, and did the life insurance come through that workplace? If so, you'd better take some very serious legal action to protect that particular asset and definitely prosecute that POA if they've actually been tampering with important papers or coercing the patient. I've heard that if the Alzheimer's patient doesn't have a trustworthy guardian, they're sitting duck for a vulture to take them to the cleaners. In the end, the POA walks away scott free with everything leaving the family and rightful heirs nothing. There are some laws in Ohio that have actually changed for the better to help better protect surviving families of the elders, I'm just finding out about those laws among other things. If by chance you happen to live in Ohio, contact the Ohio bar association and have them give you the name and number of an elder care lawyer who specializes in this area. Act on this now before any more damage is done and the person acting as POA has a chance to vanish. Sometimes you may face situations where the person acting as POA tries to cover their tracks and even dispose of or sell off what they weren't entitled to but wrongfully took. You can also bet that person probably has another victim already lined up if they've been at this for quite a while.
* You mentioned vacations. You can just about bet there's a very high likelihood this person who is acting as POA most likely is looking for their next victim and plans to vanish to dodge the law and avoid justice. It's bad how these vultures will go to great lengths to avoid being caught. However, sooner or later what they did find them out because they will be discovered and caught and all are the consequences severe!
The final thing to remember is that whatever the person bought with the patient's money will most likely have to be sold after a court judgment is made. Another thing that will most likely happen is a lien will most likely have to be put on the person's bank account and any garnishable income will be garnished if the person works. Many times a person will actually quit their job to stop the garnishments. In this case they may remain unemployed or work for cash under the table to avoid being detected and having to pay a garnishment. Be very wary when the dust starts to fly, you never know what kind of tricks the offender may pull
I know what you mean! I did an online search and found an attorney in the Tampa area that specializes in managing elder affairs. Probably fairly costly, tho.
I am hoping to name my husband's nephew's wife, because 1) She won't be in line to inherit. 2) She has the same values as I about spending, end of life issues, etc. 3) She is honest and intelligent and tough enough to stand up for me.
Her only concern is possible disagreements with my husband's kids about things, so I await her decision before going through with it.
I would suggest you consider a trusted friend, perhaps someone from your church, who fits those 3 criteria and ask them to do it for you. Also, name an alternate or successor.
I believe you can stipulate how much they are to be paid, which would likely be less than an attorney; and if your kids are taking up a lot of the POA' s time by complaining, they could point out that it's coming out of the inheritance.