My sister used POA to steal Mom's money. Any advice?

The best course of action was already mentioned. Getting a lawyer and calling the APS are two of the main things to do right now. The person has Alzheimer's, so the patient is definitely not competent to make the decision to "gift" a dime of their money. Alzheimer's patients need a guardian to take over their financial affairs. Not having a guardian leaves the patient sitting duck for vultures, this is all too common from what I'm hearing. What the POA did is actually grand theft. The thief needs to pay restitution and a lien put on her property, bank accounts and anything else she has of value. Yes, the legal system is definitely needed at this point because the patient having Alzheimer's cannot give consent to gifting money they badly need for their own care

I hate to say this but given what is going on with a POA who spends so much of the person's money because it is "gifted", I think first of all (if this is even possible) try to get a copy of the Power of Attorney. Second immediately and I mean immediately find an experienced eldercare attorney. You need a professional to figure this out and tell you the best course of action. Good luck.

Document everything and see an attorney right away. Don't wait another day.

I personally would be very careful about putting anyone on my bank account, especially since I have online bill pay going. I wouldn't want another person on my account to possibly screw up my bills the way they come out in full on time each month. No way would I let someone else have access to my money, not no way not know how. If changes need to be made by someone else, they can make appropriate changes without touching my money. People get burned every day for allowing someone else access to their bank account, not for me. If someone started coercing me, the answer will be no no no and NO even if I have to scream loud enough for the next county to hear me!

Yes, my niece would be ideal POA but doesn't live in same city. I do want to continue with my daughter as POA for health care as she is a nurse, so I think I will put her on my checking account, but move my savings to another bank. With my monthly income and my LTC insurance she should be able to make and pay for decisions about assisted living or nursing home if I become unable to do so. My savings and investments will only be available to the beneficiaries. My current will etc. is only 3 1/2 years old so I hope to wait another 18 months before revision.

Arleeda,
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.

What you're describing right now is a very similar thing I'm facing, parent with Alzheimer's but now deceased, POA questionable. If there's no guardianship, this is a big red flag if the patient has Alzheimer's. What you can do to find out if the patient has a guardian is to call the local probate in the town where the person lives. Explain in as few words as possible you need to find out if so-and-so has a guardian. If not, you can file for guardianship and secure their assets including their money. I would also get an elder care lawyer and go after the POA for all of that money with interest. Since the money is most likely gone, you'll definitely want to go for the house and anything else they have. A judgment will force the person to cough up all that money and not only pay the court, but pay restitution to the patient they robbed. POA is not supposed to be using the persons money for their own benefit, they're supposed to be using it only for the care of the person they care for and not living large at their expense. You may want to contact APS and also the patient's bank. Take with you any proof you have that money was stolen and the bank will most likely be willing to help you, even if they must freeze the account. If the name of the POA is actually on the patients bank account, they can limit access to the account and prevent them from withdrawing any more money. You can get a court ordered garnishment through a lawyer and the bank will have to cooperate when going after the offender's account.

*** 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

How much do professional POAs charge? After watching my two children squabble over what they should be spending on their father's care, I believe I should pursue this avenue but the lawyer who drew up my will and previous POAs--which were for the two children to be co-POAs--says no one on his staff will do it .

Report the theft.
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.

This is why the best thing a parent can do is find a trusted non-family member professional to be POA.

Sounds to me like you need an attorney. According to an attorney: "The paragraph grants a limited power to make gifts to the principal's children. The power should be exercised as a fiduciary and only as consistent with the intentions of the principal." Seems to me, that means you don't give gifts to yourself, especially if mom has no idea. What does APS say about all of this?