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My Mom (86) with Alzheimer's was living in her home with my brother in another state who never lived on his own. He put the money in a brokerage account and he is spending the interest for himself.
I went to see her, there was severe neglect. rotting food, soiled clothing and linens.She is very frail and trying to fend for herself.
I brought her back to my home and am caring for her, and we both work. Our salaries have drastically been reduced due to the time to care for her.

He had nurses coming in and stated that he "lied" about her sugar levels. She was living on peanut butter, V8 juice and Glucerna.
He would cook for himself, and not feed her. He stated "he could not figure out why she was still alive"
We are struggling emotionally and financially to care for her, and the interest would be extremely helpful for her care.
My husband and I are not in the best of health, and we need to get the money matter straightened out, so she will be cared for, in case of our death, or inability to care for her.
My brother does not work, will work for a little while, then says he has "found out how to work the system" living off food stamps, welfare and my mothers money.
Her blood sugar has significantly improved, and blood pressure also. Her blood sugar was 175 - dangerous blood sugar spikes while staying with my brother. I have her blood sugar to under 120, and blood pressure is under control. We have a PCP doctor for her. Also her toenails were 3 inches long. We have taken her to a podiatrist to keep a watch on them.
Cannot afford an attorney. Do I go with help in my state, or her state where the fraud was committed. There are some agencies that are aware of the neglect, according to him. Never know if he is being truthful.
We tried to take care of her in our home 2011, but my brother was in control of all her money, and we started having financial problems.

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Report it to the Adult Protective Services in both your area and his but remember to cite it as being the care she received in this monster's hands. Make sure both areas are aware of it. Mostly state laws relate to elderly abuse and a quick google of your relevant state will give you the numbers you need to call. If an area was aware of abuse I cannot think they would have ignored it...at least one would hope not.
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Adult Protective Services, phonebook, in the front of every phonebook. At least there used to be.
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Income: Your Mom is supposed to receive social security income, or can get S.S.I. income (Supplemental Security Income.). Start with a visit to the social security office where you live, they will assign you as "representative payee".
If your brother is listed as rep payee, then he is getting that income also. Since you have Mom, Soc. Sec. should cooperate with you. There needs to be a fiduciary accountability and a Power of Attorney (POA). Go to the nearest legal self help, often located at the courthouse. Start with where you are at, keep caring for Mom, and address the fraud later, as you are able. You can have brother removed as POA.
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Ok, you need to know that the above post is not legal advice, and is from a lay person, caregiver with general information to share, not an expert opinion.
This may not apply in your case, your mom's case may be different. Thank you for already rescuing your mother from what sounds like neglect.
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At least yu can take one huge comfort from all of this you are taking care of her, the road ahead wont be easy but at least she will be safe from harm, xxxx
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Contact adult protective services as soon as possible. What he is doing is abuse and neglect. She deserves to be taken care of and the funds he took should go for her care and needs. I'm sorry this has happened. Good luck.
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I'm only a care-giver, too, but I would also put the fraud charges on the backburner and concentrate on getting POA, getting that social security check sent to my house, and making sure you are getting tax deductions as she is now your dependent. Contact your state senior services dept for financial advice as some may have additional aid programs and they may be able to advise you on pursuing fraud charges, but I can see that possibly becoming time-consuming and expensive. You want to be in control of the situation as your needs dictate.
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Good that she is living with you now. A blood sugar of 120 is still too high and requires other measures to reduce it. Consult the PCP. If your brother has POA, he can sign for her and you will need an attorney to sort things out. Please spend your energies taking care of your mother instead of trying to control your brother's actions. We all know there is an unpleasant end for him.
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I would report it to Adult Protective Services ASAP as others have suggested. Financial exploitation is considered abuse. It might take them awhile to investigate as they're often short-staffed and overworked, but at least it will be THEIR time and money doing the investigation. Some States have an Ombudsman for Elder Abuse/services. If he's getting her Social Security check, that's financial fraud at the Federal government level. Not a good thing! As others suggested, see if you can get assigned as your mother's "Payee" for her S.S. check.
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Mom with Alzheimer's - vulnerable

She is very frail and trying to fend for herself - Elderly mentally frail - high vulnerability

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He put the money in a brokerage account and he is spending the interest for himself - financial abuse unless there is a written agreement re his care of her

Rotting food - neglect/abuse

Soiled clothing - neglect/abuse

Soiled linens - neglect/abuse

He "lied" about her sugar levels. She was living on peanut butter, V8 juice and Glucerna - Abuse and neglect

He would cook for himself, and not feed her. He stated "he could not figure out why she was still alive" - Predetermined abuse and neglect mental and physical and probably emotional too

Brother says he has "found out how to work the system" living off food stamps, welfare and my mothers money. - Financial exploitation

Some agencies that are aware of the neglect, according to him. Never know if he is being truthful. - hmm I am not a gambler and I would bet they don't

We tried to take care of her in our home 2011, but my brother was in control of all her money, and we started having financial problems - TIME TO ACT

Does that helpo you decide what to do hun - the good Lord forbid that he should ever get to her again or her assets you have to act. If you and your partner were to become suddenly ill it is imperative he doesn't get charge of her again
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rescueneeded1: see an attorney, a social worker and Adult Protective Services. Find another family member or assisted living services to properly care for Mom.
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Don't hesitate, don't consult your brother, do not be afraid to go to Social Security because if there are conflicting applications for S.S. (one in your state, one by brother in his state), then it will be readily apparent to Soc. Sec. and they will make the necessary corrections to make it right. Is your Mom able to go to the office with you? P.S. If you get the chance, do some address changes to your home, and/or grab some documentation paperwork anyway you can, but don't wait for that paperwork. You do have her soc. sec. number? Don't worry, they can look it up, make it simple and dont take no for an answer.
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I had a similar experience. I immediately took mom to her bank and had her account changed to her name and mine only. I then went to Social Security and had her checks going into the new account. I did have to hire an attorney but it was $$ well spent. Her will was changed to make me POA and trustee. Being an accounting major in college, I can be trusted. No one else in the family is. When it comes to $$$ nothing matters to some human beings then themselves. Mom is in good hands now. I took a leave of absence from my job and am putting her in an apartment in assisted living. Things are finally beginning to look up. Thank You God!
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Your brother cannot live off of food stamps, welfare AND your mother's money, that is welfare fraud and you could turn him in. Additionally, welfare is computed differently when two are in the household, and it must be reported if there is a cbange. See that attorney, because if your mother needs to exempt her home as an allowable asset to qualify for Medicaid , and she no longer lives there, you need to plan something out.
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Get help where you are at, in your state. Find out if it would be best to say your mom plans to return to her home when going for any kind of help, until you see a legal aid attorney. This is hard, and maybe it just cannot be figured out in advance without an attorney, elder law. It is just so much a relief that tonight, one senior is not being neglected.
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I dont know whether it applies with attorneys in the USA but do any of them offer their services pro bono if you are without funds to pay?
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Jude there are not enough pro bono lawyers in US for everyone who wants one.
DOCUMENTATION will be required regardless of whether you get any attorney or just go thru APS. I hope you took photos of those 3 inch long toenails. I hope you got a video of brother's home being such a mess & rotten food. Otherwise it becomes "he says she says" and in US it is innocent til proven guilty. I am hoping for your mom's sake that you DO have the documentation which is beyond doubt. Otherwise things could turn into a Guardianship court case where mom could be committed to a nursing home (not of your choice).
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Damn I was hoping it might be an option....oh well note to self - stop watching Law & Order
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If she needs money, sell her home and use some of that to hire an attorney. You might also want to apply for Medicaid for her. I believe that Medicaid does allow you to keep your primary residence, but I'm not sure about that. In my own mother's case, we decided that she could use the money from her residence plus maintaining it costs money and wasn't worthwhile. So, I think it's less stress to just sell it and have a little extra money for her plus one less thing to worry about.

Yes, go to APS and a social worker before you do anything but I suspect you should be looking into attorneys on this, as well. My mother didn't have much money but we used a little of her money for an attorney and the advice we got was worth every dime. Your brother might come up with all sorts of claims and only a lawyer will be able to help you on some of it.

In fact, there was some question I asked about selling my Mom's house that I asked of her locality regarding clearing the title and they point-blank told me I had to ask a lawyer. So, there will probably be times when you'll need one.
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I think the bank, tax preparer, investment broker, and anyone else commercially involved in handling her resources sometimes pick up on irregularities or out of character transactions. Prior to Alzheimer's she likely engaged with some financial institution and others related to money matters. Don't some at least queston, try to ascertain what prompt such changes in an elderly persons money habits? There are ways to informally interview customers and families to help make that judgement call and put the brakes on the whole process. If it's out character, there is usually something wrong. It could be health, helping for a geniune cause - sending someone to college, helping family pay off loans, health problems or other crises. Minus such events, it just seems to me the financial people would have their antenne tuned in and listening to why the expenditures/withdrawals.
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Mom's son won't need her income in jail....
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