Financial elder abuse. Any advice?
I found out 3 years ago that my brother who is capable of working was in fact not & receiving 800$ a month from my mom who has Schizophrenia for 10 years. I am on her checking account & was on my fathers as well before he pasted per his choice.... as well as both of their Healthcare Power of Attorney's because my brother exibited being financially irresponsible basically his whole life & I am quite the opposite. When I found out he was receiving this money 3 years ago I confronted him & told him then it was unacceptable & he needed to get a job which he agreeded to with just a small amount of puch back in the beginning of the conversation mainly because he is very non confrontational. Well I have now that for the past 3 years he was supposed to be not receiving her money & working to afford his own expenses was in fact still getting 500$ a month. The total amount he has received over the past 13 years is an average of 105,000- 110,000. He was receiving checks from my mom consistently every month for this money for the past 13 years in which I have record of as well as using her credit card which I have record of as well. I on the other have been saving 300$ a month for the past 3 years for her in a savings account solely in my name to prepare for expenses that may be needed in the future as she ages. I have paid for her life insurance policy from my own pocket for the past 13 years since my dad passed. I also do all of the care she needs taking her to doctors appointments, visits, & grocery shopping. My brother doesn't offer to help with anything & never did with the care my dad needed when he was alive...I did that as well! I canceled my mom's credit card my brother was using & am closely monitoring her account. She is aware if she writes him a check I can freeze it & he was informed of this too. I'm considering contacting a lawyer to discuss finacial elder abuse & wanted to ask if anyone has gone through this situation? I can if need be become my mom's payee through the state per her doctor's signature on the appropriate forms since she is Schizophrenic but haven't made any decisions yet.
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At any point, he could go to ss and have this designation changed to someone else.
I pay his necessities from the payee rep account that is only in my name. I transfer the remainder to his account for him to spend as he desires.
Its not a POA type issue, it does require the psychiatrist to agree its needed to force it, but she doesn't have to choose you.
Were she to ASK you to be POA and to manage ALL HER FUNDS then the accounts should have been arranged in such a way that she could not write out checks, with only YOU being able to write them out as her POA and her having perhaps an allowance to spend as she pleased. That is what my brother, who was diagnosed with early Lewy's asked me to do.
Being health care POA doesn't matter at all unless there is a health crisis in which your Mom cannot make choices.
In order for you to learn how to best protect your mother's funds such as are remaining I would suggest you take your POA papers to an Elder Law Attorney to learn rights, fiduciary duties, and options. I sure do wish you the best. It is unfortunately easy for people who are abusive to take advantage of those who are mentally ill.