I am the financial guardian for my mom; she has lost $100,000 to fake Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes scammers (most from Jamaica).

We need to thank whatever powers that be that this was only 1,000 and now you need to go to an Elder Law Attorney and find out how to transfer money into safe CD that Mom DOES NOT KNOW ABOUT (you are guardian and this is your right to do) so that she cannot lay her hands on it. That simple. And paid for with her funds. It she can give 100,000 to scams she can pay 350.00 for an elder law attorney. Get her funds to safety NOW.

EyeGirl, time to get a bank account that requires two signatures, your Mom's AND your signature.

Eyegirl, as your mom's "court appointed guardian of person and property," it is up to you to protect her assets. While having a very small "jointly owned" checking account may (or may not) be a good idea to enable her to feel some degree of autonomy and dignity, as you now know, she will still be able to withdraw funds from that account, so you shouldn't put any more money in that account than your mother can afford to lose. Beware that even a small joint checking account could result in substantial overdraft fees, for which you could be held responsible, so ask your mom's bank for advice before doing that. Accounts that you want protected should be listed with you as her legal guardian, but with only her listed as the owner. Different banks have different ways of listing such accounts, but I believe all will need to retain a copy of the court order appointing you as her guardian.

Kudos to you for being willing to be your mom's guardian, which entails a lot of responsibility and work that may not be fully understood or appreciated by your siblings. Best wishes to you and your mom on this new journey.

For the bank issue, is her name on the account? Can it be removed or are you required to put it in her name? It’s a bit confusing here because you have financial guardianship? But not regular guardianship? The court appointed you? It’s just odd that a 90 year old under court guardianship isn’t being supervised and was able to go to the bank to withdraw money. Actually your profile says you’ve been declared guardianship of person and property. So why wasn’t your mother properly supervised? She had to be declared incompetent in to be put under guardianship.

Go higher up in the chain of command at BofA. They have a fiduciary responsibility not to give money to unauthorized people. If necessary, mention the lawsuit you'll file in small claims court to recover the funds they erroneously gave Mom unless they replace the funds in her account.

$100,000K or $1000K?

Neither is OK, but a heckuva lot of difference there.

I hope others weigh in on this. It's a constant concern for me with my mother as she still believes that PCH is going to make her rich. She's the only person I know who still gets a paper 'invoice' from PCH every month.

And she orders crap from them and KEEPS all the envelopes and inserts.

Sounds like you have done all you can do--but seems like BOA should be a lot more responsible in allowing at risk elders to draw down accts like that.