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My mom has been writing checks to various charities and organizations that are mostly scammers.
In one instance my sister took a check away that was in an envelope to a scam pharmacy who is selling memory cure pills. She wont take the actual pills that the doctor prescribed for her so she’s trying what she sees on TV.
As soon as my sister left mom wrote out another check and sent it right out to the company.
Mom is constantly sending checks to various charities, small donations but nonetheless checks that add up.
She thinks it’s for the local police but it’s not and no matter how oftern we explain it she keeps doing it.
We have also tried to get her away from publishers clearing House and told her if we saw any more checks to them we would take the checkbook away.
To get around this she then processed monthly automatic withdrawals to publishers clearinghouse to get around the check issue.
The last time one of us tried to get her checking account away from her she became angry and violent.
Help!

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Snevetsg57, sounds like it is time to try out "theraputic fibs" to get control of your Mom's checkbook. Try a fib that you think your Mom would believe, then you both head to the bank to have whomever is the Power of Attorney's name placed on the checks.

To keep your Mom from writing large checks, the bank can set up the checks that anything over $100 or whatever would require two signatures. You can tell Mom that is to prevent fraud or in case her check is stolen.

It is very hard for anyone who is getting older to give up so much of their independence. And the checkbook might be her last bit of independence.
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My 94 yo mother won't give up Publishers Clearing House, we cannot convince her that she was not winning the "Big Prize" and that the limo was not going to pull up in her yard. Fortunately, that is the only one she sends money to! Who has her POA? This is a difficult one if they don't cooperate. You may have to bite the bullet and take the checkbook away from her and freeze all automatic payments.
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You need of course to have power of attorney and your mother must have a diagnosis of dementia. That given, the time to remove the check book was yesterday. There will not be a whole lot of things happening for her that will honestly make her happy, but that is the sad fact about it. Not everything has a happy answer. Not everything can be fixed. Some things are just difficult and make people cry, yell, rant. It is about loss at the end of life, and loss of ability to made sensible decisions is worth crying and yelling over. So sorry for all you are going through. Hopefully the crying and violent acting out will stop quickly. In so far as she can be reasoned with do tell her that when you can no longer handle violent outbursts you will not be able to be around to help her a whole lot and she will be in the hands of people who will not try so hard to make her happy.
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