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Brother had POA for Mom. Our parents revoked it in 2008. Dad died in 2009. Brother began using it again. Technicality - the revocation was not filed with the county. However, a lot of circumstantial info leads me to believe he stole a large sum of investments. Right after Dad died - bro (all 3 of my sibs actually) all made major large purchase that had not been able to afford previously. Now 2 1/2 years later. All 3 are retiring and making major purchases again. The timing is suspicious. But also there had been some rearranging of accounts in 2007 (which my parents asked my brother to return and he refused) when my sibs were trying to force our parents out of their home. I was in grad school out of state at the time. After graduation, I returned to hometown and began caring for our parents and still am 24/7 for Mom who has dementia. Animosity between parents and siblings began in 2007 and escalated in 2008. None of my siblings (nor the grandkids) see Mom - nor have since 2008. Also, in 2009 I got full powers of attorney for MOm so that is resolved, But it took a few weeks after Dad died, and it appears bro stole a lot in that time. Where do I go for help? Atty General cannot help without proof. Adult Protective Services in this city is not of much help. Police cannot help without more evidence. How can I find out?

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Get the bank records. You have your Mom and POA so that shouldn't be a problem. Any large withdrawals should be noticeable. Talk to an attorney versed in elder law.
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Pineapple....what a mess and what a shame that your siblings did this to your parents. And now you get to clean up the mess. What a good daughter you are for caring for your mother and that you are willing to do what needs done. The first thing I would do is hire an attorney. You will need one before all this is over. Then take your current POA and go to the bank and ask for a printout of the activity on that account beginning when bro started as POA. Don't let anyone ask nosy questions, just get an accounting, after all you are taking care of Mom's finances and that information affects her also. An attorney will ask for the records and it's cheaper if you do it and take it to him/her. You're not going to know if money was taken or even how much until you get it in black and white. Depending on how far you want to push things, charges can be brought against bro for possible fraud, stealing, embezzlement of funds just to name a few. Good luck and I wish you success.
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Department of Aging, Protective Services. They will do a free investigation and he will have to account for all the money if he was the POA.
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Thanks for the responses and concern. I am waiting on information about legal issues from when I believe the problems began. It is not easy to just let it go as from what I can glean from information I do have it is a substantial amount of money (easily over 100K). My brother also false used the POA that had been revoked to get mail sent to him instead of my parents' address after Dad died. And so much more. This is not a simple issue.
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Is it worth hiring a forensic accounting investigator? They will know where to look to establish a paper trail. And they may get enough to take to the police, who will investigate further. Good look!
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Bless you for caring for your Mom. I had similar situation but learned it's next to impossible to recover funds without a paper trail of evidence. What you would go through to attempt to recover funds at this point would be extremely stressful both mentally and physically in addition to the stress of everyday caregiving that you currently experience. My advice to you is to let it go. Don't let it consume you when there is nothing you can do to recover those funds. You know in your heart that you are doing all you can to care for your Mom and those relatives who used her will have to live with what they have done. It's hard to make peace with injustice but for yor sake just let it go.
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My sister had been taking money from our dad before he died and from his estate afterwards. She was very sneaky at times. When she transferred money from say a CD to his main account, she would often get cash back that was not as noticable. I have to say that it was a bit of a nightmare to go through, BUT we have gotten through it with the help of a good elder care attorney who made me my sister's agent (she was executor or trustee of dad's estate), and she no longer had access to the funds and I was the only one who did.

I agree, it's not a simple issue. I am so very sorry that you have to go through this and to witness what is happening.

I also agree about getting an attorney and all the bank records, keeping a keen eye out for anything out of the ordinary. My sister often tried to say that she didn't know what a certain withdrawal that she made was for and that it must've been for dad, but it just wasn't true. Besides, anyone who has the responsibility of caring for someone else's money, is responsible for keeping good records of what they are using the money for.

Please hang in there and use the resources, like attorneys and the bank(s) as well as you can. Although it doesn't seem like it, with the right help, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's NOT a train coming at you. Have been there and am so glad to see it all behind us.

Try to take care of yourself as best you can through this very difficult time.

Hugs,
Helen
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I have a good handle on the possible ways the stealing was done. I am working on fine tuning what happened. It is amazing to me that all three sibs had major purchases (all in excess of 20K) right after Dad died they had not been able to afford prior to Dad's death. And in the last few months same thing is happening - all three at the same time! Circumstantial, but does give me clues as to what happened.
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