Legal or not?

Tessabella, the problem with your husband's thinking is that you will have to show how moms money was spent for 3 to 5 years before she will qualify for LTC Medicaid.

If they determine that sister was gifted money then you will be stuck taking care of her through the penalty period.

If you are looking at government aid they want to make sure that situations just like this are not costing the taxpayers money that should be available from their own funds.

This is something that has to be looked into if you think that she is going to need LTC.

I have to say that I think that you all are very nice to help supplement sisters lifestyle. What is she going to do when she is not getting moms money, will you have to send her a check to avoid confrontation or conflict?

MIL is 99, and no she is not saving money for her funeral expenses. We have been doing that with the little she gets every month. We put it aside for her funeral expenses. She lives with us and therefore the daughter would not have expenses. Her son managed to get medicaid for her in case she is bed bound and would need to move her to a Nursing Home. For now she is somewhat mobil, but her dementia is driving us crazy, let alone we don't have a life. The daughter does not want her back. We managed to get 20 hours a week help. Her son and I managed to get some time alone or do our appointments in those hours. We can't take her out anymore, to much of a hassle. That is another story.
What she does with the money, who knows. We know in the month of October she took a short vacation and MIL did not receive check for Oct. Son does not want to pursue the matter. Waiting for when she goes into Nursing Home and they would do the leg work to get the whole check. He does not like comfrontations with his sister. If it was my mother, I would be all over her. lol

Hmmm... maybe. Legal or not.

What is the POA daughter doing with the remaining money?

If the daughter is putting it in an account with her mothers name included as one of the account holders - and is perhaps saving it for a future expense like mothers funeral or dental work - whatever - then I’d say legal.

If POA is paying herself for her POA duties - then it must be written as allowable in the POA doc. Legal.

But, if the POA is just keeping the
money for herself without permission? Definitely illegal.

Just a note - don’t let the yearly Representative Payee report scare you - it’s really quite basic. If one is keeping up on account balances it should be easy enough to do the report in about 15 minutes. Typical, it does not require itemization or receipts.

EDIT: Is your MIL on Medicaid? Maybe the POA is doing this to keep her mother under the cash assets amount to qualify?

It’s legal to receive the check if the daughter is her rep payee.Her daughter is also allowed to be compensated for reasonable expenses related being to POA. But I highly doubt her expenses, if any, are in the hundreds of dollars.

No it is not legal. Every penny of SS is for the recipient.

I would take your mother in law with your husband to the SSA with a note of diagnosis from her doctor and get her son assigned as rep payee. It requires some annual accounting, basically ensuring that she is the beneficiary of her SS.

You should not be paying her expenses until she is broke for the month. Get a rental agreement in place and allow her to pay her own way.

I would file a complaint against the sister un law for stealing her money. Most states do not allow a POA to benefit financially and only if it has a stated amount on the document can they get paid.

POA is a fudiciary responsibility and can land you in hot water by financially exploiting a vulnerable senior. Doesn't matter if she needs the money or not, it isn't hers to have.

I would move on this right away. I just fume when people steal from seniors.