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I have 3 Sisters and one lives with me. The sister I live with is filing for guardianship over my mother because my sister (who need does not live in same state) and I are in disagreement over POA. My mother appointed me primary POA years ago when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. My sister who does not live in the state came to visit my mom 2 years later took her to a lawyer and had her sign POA over to her. At that point my mom did not know what she was doing and was very upset to hear that she did this. I am my mother's primary caregiver and my sister that lives with me helps me out. We both felt it would be better for her to apply for guardianship since she is neutral in this situation. I've been reading about horror stories about having guardianship. Any advice? I am in paying a lot of money to lawyers to have the old POA reinstated. Not as easy as it sounds and very expensive.

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I would get legal advice on the law in your jurisdiction and also ask about what the process involves. In many places, the old POA's, even if valid, may be considered, but still, the court will examine who is best suited to be Guardian of the estate (for finances) and Guardian of the person (healthcare and other decisions) or General Guardian, who does both. The court makes that decision and orders it, so the POA's are no longer valid. 

 I'd be curious why sister took action to have a person with dementia make a new appointment. That's a little odd.

I would consider just what a big job it is. You are constantly thinking about what decisions need to be made and attending to them. It's often a thankless job. I would also question if an out of state person who isn't around the Ward would be a good idea. I mean, that's difficult. Also, if you are dealing with mom's needs daily, I'd hate to have to go through a third person to get things accomplished. There's a lot to consider. The Elder Law attorney can explain more about it.

Also, the Guardian who handles the finances, may have to be bonded and that usually requires good credit. If anyone has issues with that, they may want to discuss it with the attorney.
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I have seen posted here on the forum that sometimes when families can't agree the judge will give guardianship to an outside party, if this applies to your situation perhaps this is something you should investigate.
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My sister in Florida knows nothing about my mom's daily needs, health, financials nor does she come to visit. Her only reason I can see for coming down and taking my mother out of a nursing home to sign a new POA and she's worried about her money. After receiving notice of the change of POA I called my mother's financial advisor and froze all her assets. Because they are all Frozen nobody can touch them not even my mother. With that being said I now have received many tax bills that my mother needs to pay and nobody has access to her money. My sister in Florida is greedy and very shady and is close with other family members who in the past has stolen a lot of money from my mom. I felt it was the right thing to do to freeze all her assets but it has backfired on me because now I cannot pay her bills. I have gone to an elder attorney and also my mother and i attorney that we have been using for years and they have recommended guardianship. The legal team from my mom's financial advising company will only accept guardianship or for us to go to court fight the POA and get a new POA signed by the judge. This cost a fortune. I was also informed that I can file a civil fraud lawsuit against my sister. This also can run up to $25,000 in legal fees. So Guardian seems like the way to go to be able to release my mother's funds and pay the federal bills that she has do. Also when I was at the lawyer's office they were not surprised to see two POS on file. They told me they have seen up to 12. The siblings and relatives that are sneaky take the mother and have her sign new POA. All my mother needs to do is sit there and the lawyer needs to determine whether she's confident enough to understand what she's doing. My mother can understand things for brief moments but then totally forget everything. I truly don't care that her assets for Frozen because I do not use them but now that her tax bills are over $14,000 I am unable to pay them and she is accumulating fees and penalties. I'm wondering what power guardianship has and how will it affect me caring for my mom which is most important
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