Mother with Dementia, Alleged Abuse by One Child against Another Who is Agent Under POA (Power of Attorney)

 

https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/authorized/how-can-i-help-my-mother-who-has-dimentia-and-my-s-4975063.html?answered=true

 How can i help my mother who has dementia and my sister ,who claims to be POA is physically, mentally and financially abusing her?

I have reported her to ssi for fraud and for elder neglect . . . .all whom have never once asked for proof of POA, but refuse to listen or will not answer questions because I’m not the poa, but will not ask for proof if she is.  And, she also refuses her medical treatment believe for fear of questionable competency, for what reason, She claims she will be putting her in a home soon, and selling moms house to pay for that, saying my mom has no insurance to cover it and does not receive ssi, even though I have verified a yes thru ssi.  What is she up to? And what can I do?

 

Answer by: Jay K. Nixon, Licensed for 40 years, Avvo Rating: 10, Estate Planning Attorney in Kenosha & Janesville, WI

I am very sorry for the stress this sad situation must be creating for you and your family. However, you probably should not expect authorities anywhere to accept unproven or nonspecific allegations of fraud, theft, and abuse. My guess is also that they already have a copy of the POA in their files. They likewise are indeed required by confidentiality to not reveal financial details to persons to whom your mother did not provide written consent before the onset of the dementia (a POA being one form of consent). Either way, if she really has terminal dementia, there is almost no insurance which will cover the costs of her long-term care other than Medicaid. That is a poverty driven, form of public welfare, only allowing liquid assets of less than $2K to qualify. Once she is receiving homecare through Medicaid, the government will still allow her to occupy her home as long as she is able, but will place a lien against it up to the total amount which the spend on her, which effectively makes it theirs, assuming there are no unpaid mortgages or other liens already placed against the title. To qualify, she will need to spend down her other assets to $2K before she qualifies, and if the house is sold, the money normally needs to be spent on the costs of her care; attempting to gift it to family members without careful advanced planning may disqualify her from further government assistance. What you describe makes it sound like your sister may have commenced this process, which is perfectly normal in many scenarios like this. You do have a litigation option if you feel that things must change, however, and that is known as a formal guardianship petition, where a guardian replaces the POA under supervision of the court. You could request that you or some other family member serve as guardian rather than your sister. Most probate, estate planning and elder law attorneys do this type of work, so retain one of those as soon as possible if the situation is as bad as you think. You should also probably talk to her county's Office of Aging Assistance, who might do some of this for you, if your allegations have merit.