How can I help my parent manage her financial information?

Can anyone help? My mother, who is 57 years old, is suffering from a complete degerneration of her left hip joint. Her doctor has advised a total hip replacement as soon as possible. The problem lies in that my parents have NO insurance. Due to my mother's "pre-exsisting condition" she is difficult to insure, and even if she could find a company to insure her, the payments are so outrageous that my parents can't afford to pay the premium. I've looked into getting her on disability, but apparently the state in which we live, Oregon, has no such program. My parents don't own a home or property. They have minimal regular income. The hospital has agreed to work with us on a payment plan for the surgery, but even the payments would be difficult to bear. Any ideas on financial aid for this procedure? My mom is in constant, debilitating pain and NEEDS this surgery to regain her life.

what rights do other siblings have as to the financial affairs being handled by the one with power of attorney? Such as where the money is being spent and if mom's bills are being paid or if it this sibling is abusing the parent and using mom's money to pay her bills?

Your information is very helpful too bad I did know everthing before I got involded in my mothers finances. The things I found would shock someone. There were over hundred of clothes( prices nevver taken off) that were never worn. Money, bills check books all over never balance. But I did on one visit to New York sit down with mom to find out where all important paper work was kept. Still today i hope I found all of it. i did even check with the credit bureau to make sure there was nothing oustanding on her history that would later on hit me in the face. Thank you for all the info sir, i printed it out for my husband since he is going to visit with his folks. You see they are Spanish and refused to listen to any one. I would go with him since I have been through all of this and have some legal knowledge, but I* have to be by mom in case something was to happen. patrica61

My mother is a widow who has recently sold her home without my sister or my knowledge. A cousin by marriage, similar in age, decided to "help" her with the sale. She moved in with him with her whole household except for 2 beds which makes things awfully crowded. As a 74 year old Alzheimer's patient who doesn't understand the disease and nor does the cousin, it is difficult to explain without mom feeling we are taking over. She shuts down on us, refusing to take our calls. She doesn't want to burden us and sometimes thinks we want her money (less than $10 K in the bank and her social security check). She has had more and more anger aimed at the cousin and her daughters but when she is fed and takes her meds, she is manageable. How can I get her to agree to power of attorney without declaring her mentally incompacitated? We just want her happy, healthy and cared for in an assisted living but she thinks it is for "old folks".

Hi audreyh, it is so difficult, and every person and situation is so different. But, what I had to do with my Dad is file for Guardianship/Conservatorship, but first to get a letter from his doctor to declare him incompetent. The alzheimer's will get worse, so the sooner you take care of the formalities the better for all. With alzheimer's, I know with my Dad, he became, for a while, argumentative and hard to deal with, which made dealing with finances impossible. I had to get guardianship/conservatorship in order to get my Dad into an assisted living facility. Once I finally got him there, he was very happy, although skeptical at first. Good luck and blessings to you.

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