I'm DPOA for my mom with dementia (age 87) and until 2 weeks ago, for my dad (age 88). I'm also executor of the estate. Two weeks ago my dad passed. Three of my sisters took my mom and got an emergency temporary guardianship. Now they have removed her from her home, started stripping the home and her assets, and the rest of us haven't been able to talk to her or see her. We go to court on October 4th, but I'm very worried about mom and her home, assets etc. I need to find out if the general guardianship overrides my DPOA.
What is the back story?
Yes guardianship overrides POA as it is assigned by the court.
I am sorry for the loss of your dad.
I never er got a chance to show the judge anything. My sisters were never there, and I have literally taken care of everything they needed for 6 years. My sisters have already been stripping her of her assets. Do I still have the right to be on/ take care of the property and assets? Don't I still have the right to hear from/ know that my mom is ok? See her? It's not just me being kept from her. It's the rest of the family too.
Thank you for taking the time to answer.
The only good news is as guardians your sisters will have to report and justify everything they have done concerning your mother's care and assets, including isolating her. I doubt a judge will appreciate your sisters stripping the house or making any major changes in assets as temporary guardians.
When my brother filed for guardianship and to set aside my mother's POA choices, the court appointed a guardian-ad-litum who was an elder law attorney. She used her authority to "investigate" getting copies of Mom's bank statements and medical reports but didn't override/interfere with any of Mom's or POA's actions/choices. In Mom's case my brother was claiming incompetence and so Mom would have remained legally competent until the hearing with a finding of incompetence. He dropped his action when PCP wrote a statement declaring competence and the lawyers (his and Mom's) told him after an interview she was obliviously competent and his action would fail.
You need to consult with your lawyer about what you can do before the court hearing. I hesitate to suggest anything without a good elder attorney's advice but you might consider calling APS about finding out where your mother is. It would probably help if other family members also called APS.
Good Luck!
I don't see how they will be able to justify all they've done. Mom hasn't even been seen by home health since they did this. They're definitely putting her at risk. I had planned on staying with her and hiring day help before they did this. She could have stayed in her own home.
I called APS in the county she lives in, but I'm going to try the county she's being kept in since they have done nothing.
I'm just a regular guy (not a professional) with two siblings and two aging parents with dementia issues and our situation is under control at the moment. But honestly, without more knowledge of details, I'm a bit shocked at what your siblings are doing. Have they no fear of being sued by the State for treating an elderly citizen like that? (Assuming they are really stripping her assets for herself and not for instance, selling things and putting the money in her account.)
I guess this is rather personal, but why are they excluding you from everything? Are you the only one that wants to do what is right and they have ganged up on you? Do you think they feel you would not take 'appropriate action' at this stage in your mom's life and felt they needed to do so?
Being in a situation where me and my sisters, by default, have to care for my parents. I can see how easy it would be to mistreat them and pillage their estate because there is no one immediately / closely watching over us (at this moment). But mistreating them or their estate is just not going to happen. At least two of the three of us are level headed and realize that the State will (SHOULD) protect them and their assets and should prosecute those who don't.
As 'legal' temporary guardians I assume that means they make all the decisions for your mother and that she has been declared incapable of handling her affairs? So, although not necessarily justifiable, they may legally have the right to do what they are doing. But as someone else stated, they will have to give a full accounting to the State of where what happened to every dollar. Of course, they could do an awful lot in a year before the accounting but they should be scared to death of the State to do anything that does not benefit your mother.
I guess I'm confused has to how they did all this with your mom when you where right there living with her. How did multiple siblings get the guardianship while leaving another sibling totally out of the picture? Can you not find out what happened at those proceedings? Isn't there more you can do get this looked into and possibly temporarily halted until it can be investigated by a judge. Have you hired a lawyer? Is that feasible for you to do?
Lastly, in addition to asking questions on this site, you really should be talking to the State or more likely to a lawyer if you really want solid legal answers. I wish you the best.
But the court will not do this without hearing your arguments, and they will not make that decision without good reason.
What leaps out at me is your father's making you his chief beneficiary. Are you his sole beneficiary? And when did he make this will?
The trouble with shouldering almost complete responsibility for your parents' wellbeing is that, if outsiders were to take a jaundiced view of the matter, it can just as easily look like you took complete control of your parents' decisions. You see where this train of thought is heading, yes?
I echo LoneStarGuy's thoughts, questions, suggestions and good wishes. Please let us know how it's going.
My step-siblings had access to the statements for Mom's investments/property which are all prior to the marriage (2nd or both). My step-sister has stolen $50.000+ and she made sure she did it with a DPOA which is now null/void after my appointment which the Judge told her attorney. This step-sibling(s) is still pushing the use of her DPOA and her attorney is helping.
I hired an attorney after I represented myself in Court (not that hard to do) and waited to get the attorney until after my appointment. Step-sibling is "claiming" that I have not done what I agreed to do for her in Court, but I asked the Judge specifically if I could just provide a spreadsheet for all the bills that were ever so delinquent it took me well over a month to bring up to date. She is not accepting this, so now I am providing a novella for she and her attorney containing every little thing I have done the past 6 months! After I get done, no one should ever question what I am doing. The Guardian Ad Litem doesn't even want to be involved because I am such a detailed person and former bank officer. I know what I can go to prison for so I know what to do to stay out of that system. By the time I get done, I'm so hoping that my step-siblings will be afraid that I will file charges against all 4 of them. EVEN if they should take their Father away from my Mother, I can have them charged with kidnapping! They do not want to follow the Community Property laws of AZ because they will not benefit AT ALL BECAUSE DADDY DOES NOT BECOME AUTO BENEFICIARY OF MOM'S PROPERTY. THEY'RE GOING TO BE REALLY PISSED BECAUSE I HAD THE VEHICLE TITLES RE-TITLED AND DADDY DOESN'T APPEAR ON THE TITLE ANY LONGER. I HAD EVERY LEGAL RIGHT TO DO SO PER THE STATE LEGAL DEPT FOR THE DMV.
You can't be nice and I've tried. You're going to have to get down and dirty my friend. My mind doesn't go the way theirs do, but I am not going to be nice any more. GO FOR THE GUT!!!!