Are aging seniors entitled to a court appointed attorney?

If u can't afford a lawyer, call ur local Office of Aging and ask if they have a number for Legal Aid. I would also call APS and tell them u think brother is taking advantage of Mom. No, u won't be a popular person but u need to protect Mom.

I believe a court appointed attorney is provided only in criminal cases.
I would pay an attorney to protect your mother’s inheritance and your gm’s money.
The money will be well spent to help you figure this out.
Money changes everything.
Your grandmother should be spending her money on her care.
Good luck!

Your mother or both of you have to go to a lawyer and provide your proof and get guardianship of your mother. You should be second POA if something happens to your mother. Your uncle must be able to show where your mother’s money is going. Nothing can be for his own gain. He can invest money on her behalf but cannot have personal gain

i would move quickly and keep it quiet. Do not give him any time to hide possible evidence

I might have missed this, and if so, I apologize, but under what circumstances was your uncle "awarded" authority under a POA?   Do you mean that your grandmother granted him that authority, before she had dementia?  

To my knowledge, court appointed attorneys are available in criminal actions, but I'm not current on whether they're available for seniors, on specific issues such as abuse of authority under a POA.

If any court action was involved in the appointment, I'm assuming that periodic reports would have to be filed, detailing activity, expenditure of funds, etc.   This is how you could get more detail and plan how to investigate his activities and expenditures. 

Could you explain more how your uncle was granted this authority, specifically by whom and under what circumstances?

chasing31,

I think your mother should get on this site and ask her questions about this.

Attorneys do give free consultations, that would be my first step, some actually do pro bono work for seniors, as do many who act as attorney in fact while doing estate planning, many estate planners are very legal savvy and cost 1/2 of what an attorney would charge.

"He is also using the estate land for his own business"

That is not legal and needs to be reported and he should have been giving a good percentage of his earnings to your grandmother anyway.

I've read enough here that I think your mother needs to have him investigated. I'm not sure your grandmother can get an attorney with dementia.

Why isn't grandma getting any income from her estate?

So, based on the info:

You and your mother should contact an elder law attorney on gramma's behalf to see how to get guardianship/conservatorship over your gramma and investigate the uncle.

Are aging seniors entitled to a court-appointed attorney? I'm not sure what this question has to do with the issue you posted...I think that's only in a criminal circumstance and it is a financial, not age-related provision.

Here is what you posted in your profile regarding your question:

"My uncle was awarded power of attorney over my grandmother and her estate since my grandpa passed away. Although my uncle is responsible for caring for my grandmother he has not cared for her at all. My mother has been caring for my grandmother for the past few years and taking care of everything to do with my grandmother. The home on my grandmothers estate has been rented for about 2-3 years at least. My mother has asked for my uncles help to take care of my grandmother. He always says I’ll see what I can do and then my mom doesn’t hear from him so I have stepped in to help my mom with my grandmother. My grandmother is using her social security and savings to live. She has not seen a dime of the money from her estate. My mother was giving my uncle money each month to help with taxes before they got renters. Now that someone is renting home I’m curious if my mother should be reimbursed since the expense of the home taxes I’m assuming are my grandmothers responsibility?? He is also using the estate land for his own business so I’m curious if he is taking money from estate to pay for his business, but claiming it’s an estate expense then writing it off as his own expense for his business. Also, can my mom expect to be compensated for all her mileage, time, etc in caring for my grandmother?? If my uncle is power of attorney over estate can my mom ask to see ALL records of taxes, income, expenses, etc in regards to my grandmothers estate? Should my uncle have set up an individual bank account for my grandmothers estate that should reflect all rental and/or other income and all estate expenses? I have a copy of the trust that includes my grandmother, uncle and mom, as well as my grandmothers biological kids in the event my grandpa passed away. I also have a copy of the modification of the trust involving the estate, my uncle, my mom, my grandmothers biological kids and their agreement of how things will be divided. And I have a copy of the power of attorney that names my uncle the power of attorney and his responsibilities. Can I meet with someone to look over these documents with me and counsel with how we should address this?? My grandmother has dementia and is living in an independent living facility as my mom cares for her every need. We would like to plan for her to possibly move into an assisted living facility to relieve much of my uncles responsibility that my mother has taken on these past few years. Thank you."

Need a little more information to respond properly. Thank You.