My father believed in his demented mind I had stolen his money from the bank. Why the banker couldn't explain the process to him is beyond me. He had me revoked as poa and moa. I did just at the attorneys told me to do, but the my father believes I've stolen his money. Instead of explaining that nothing had been not that was unethical she just removed me as their POA, and MOA. This attorney knows I've done nothing and I believe she had my mother sign off on paperwork to remove while my mother was unaware of why she was doing this. I taped recorded a conversation with mother she's in the hospital right now and was admitted for being confused and incoherent. This attorney is setting herself up to be disbarred.
If I'm wrong but the POA goes into affect when they get to this point I have doctors statements to support the facts how could she do this and get away with! She's tried to sell them on all kinds services, while we were there but I had it under control and told her this. Maybe I should count is as a blessing because she is going to cost him a fortune and he's already thinking people are stealing from him. This is part of the disease, this is an injustice to my family. Can someone help with this!
The only thing I know is if you have documented proof your father is mentally incompetent, then you can get an attorney to file for guardianship or conservatorship. It is costly. I live in CA and here it is around $5,000.00. It also can take up to 9 months but to speed it up you can declare it an emergency which will cost more. My suggestion is to seek the advice of an elder law attorney, not one associated with your parents attorney. Hugs to you!!
Being narcissistic doesn't disqualify someone from changing their POA. Making terrible decisions doesn't disqualify someone from making decisions. Only being judged to be incompetent (in the legal sense) prevents someone from acting on their own behalf. Do the documents you have from doctors specifically say your father is incompetent? Has a court ruled on this issue?
Your mother cannot change your father's POA, whether she is competent or not. Only your father can do that. So I am a little confused about what she was asked to sign. Did she perhaps also change her POA?
It is not up to the lawyer to decide whether changing the POA was based on good reasons. If the client wants it changed AND the client is legally competent, the client can have it changed.
So we are back to the question of your father's competency. Do you feel that he was competent to name you POA at the time that occurred, but not later when he removed you? How much time elapsed between naming you and removing you? What happened to his health/mental status in that period? What kind of documentation do you have of that cognitive decline?
I know that you are working very hard to try to see that things happen in your parents' best interest. Be proud of that, whatever the outcome.
I truly am sorry for you. You are trying to do the right thing by your parents. They don't want the right thing. And it sounds like they never have, even before the dementia. Don't continue beating your head against a brick wall.
Becoming the DPOA for anyone is hard, there is a lot of work and documentation has to be done constantly. It amazes me that this attorney was willing to change the DPOA removing you, if your father does indeed have dementia or Alzheimer's. The whole idea of a POA was so THEY could and would take over when the patient becomes too ill to properly handle their affairs. So now, Dad who is suffering from dementia waltzes in and says take her off as my POA??? How does this happen? By virtue of their disease they say and do things that are not based in reality. My own mother has accused me of spending all her money on unnecessary things. Every cent I spend is documented and it is usually to pay her credit card, newspaper, groceries, dog food, dog grooming, etc. which are all her expenses. Dementia and Alzheimer patients say things and believe things that are not true, it is their illness.
If I were you I would absolutely hire an attorney to represent me and I would fight what this other attorney has done. There may wind up being nothing left as your inheritance or just money to care for Mom and Dad, because this attorney he has attached himself to is and will charge him for every single thing she does. She will walk away with Mom and Dad's money in her fees.
Why was she asking you for money? Is she saying that you have robbed Mom and Dad of "X number of dollars" and they want you to repay them and he will file no charges against you? This is a really horrible position to be in and I hope you have kept scrupulous records as you are going to need them. Any person found to be robbing their parent can be prosecuted, so this should be a lesson to us all to make sure to document everything!!! Along with the 10,000 other things we have to do each day!
Good Luck and Best Wishes!
Just an idea, the trust may give you the power to appoint a co-trustee. If you were to have a bank, attorney, or even a company that provides guardianship/conservatorship services to the public, the attorney would have to be fighting another entity. The attorney could potentially sue to also have you removed as trustee. But, if you have another impartial third party involved it would make it harder. That person could perform their own audit to show that nothing unscrupulous has been done with your parents funds.
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