I just want to tell you a little story about trusting someone too much.
Sometimes giving someone Power of Attorney just does not work out.
That was the case for my oldest brother and he lost quite a bit over it.
He has diabetes, glaucoma and is nearly blind, he has crippling arthritis so it is hard for him to manage.
After his wife died 4 years ago, he let his sister-in-law talk him into adding her on his bank account and giving her POA.
She was so sweet and caring, looking after him…yeah, and looking out for herself.
He had items of his late wife's put back in his room, her jewelry and wedding rings, that woman took those too.
She went through the house and took whatever she wanted and told him it wasn't his house anymore it was hers.
The poor excuse for a human said when her sister died the house became hers.
Now this was an outright lie, his name was on the deed as well as his late wife's and he was in a community property state.
He inherited everything since there was no will.
Then she taking $500.00 to $900.00 a month from his account and depositing into her own account.
And when he needed something she would tell him he didn't have any money left after paying bills.
At first he believed her, then she began trying to isolate him, refusing to bring him to see my other brother and me.
She would tell him they were so busy and there was not enough money for gas for the trip.
But over this past year he began thinking more about it and realized she was lying.
He told her he wanted to take control of his accounts for himself but she said he could not revoke the POA.
When he told me that I told him that was not true, he could revoke it anytime he wished.
I explained that in order for that to be a case where he couldn't revoke it, she would have to have a doctor declare him mentally incompetent, and that is very hard to do.
During the last six months she realized he was wise to her and started taking $1000,00.00 to $ 2000,00.00 each month.
He finally got down to visit his daughter and she helped him find out how to revoke it.
They went to the bank and started new account with only him on it and had his checks sent direct deposit to the new one.
The bank said they can’t do anything with her because she was on the account jointly.
However, the social Security department is looking into it to see if they can get her on fraud.
She never made a deposit to the account so can’t really claim the money was hers.
I told my niece to contact the IRS because I really doubt she claimed it as income.
She left paper trails everywhere.
In the end, even if he doesn't get any money back, she may well pay for her fraud.
It pays to be very careful who you let have POA if you become unable to handle your own affairs.
I really hate it when someone either physically (and she may have ) or mentally abuses an older person or takes advantage or them to steal their belongings.
My sincere hope is that the IRS gets her and gives her the maximum penalty for Income Tax evasion.
I
Sometimes giving someone Power of Attorney just does not work out.
That was the case for my oldest brother and he lost quite a bit over it.
He has diabetes, glaucoma and is nearly blind, he has crippling arthritis so it is hard for him to manage.
After his wife died 4 years ago, he let his sister-in-law talk him into adding her on his bank account and giving her POA.
She was so sweet and caring, looking after him…yeah, and looking out for herself.
He had items of his late wife's put back in his room, her jewelry and wedding rings, that woman took those too.
She went through the house and took whatever she wanted and told him it wasn't his house anymore it was hers.
The poor excuse for a human said when her sister died the house became hers.
Now this was an outright lie, his name was on the deed as well as his late wife's and he was in a community property state.
He inherited everything since there was no will.
Then she taking $500.00 to $900.00 a month from his account and depositing into her own account.
And when he needed something she would tell him he didn't have any money left after paying bills.
At first he believed her, then she began trying to isolate him, refusing to bring him to see my other brother and me.
She would tell him they were so busy and there was not enough money for gas for the trip.
But over this past year he began thinking more about it and realized she was lying.
He told her he wanted to take control of his accounts for himself but she said he could not revoke the POA.
When he told me that I told him that was not true, he could revoke it anytime he wished.
I explained that in order for that to be a case where he couldn't revoke it, she would have to have a doctor declare him mentally incompetent, and that is very hard to do.
During the last six months she realized he was wise to her and started taking $1000,00.00 to $ 2000,00.00 each month.
He finally got down to visit his daughter and she helped him find out how to revoke it.
They went to the bank and started new account with only him on it and had his checks sent direct deposit to the new one.
The bank said they can’t do anything with her because she was on the account jointly.
However, the social Security department is looking into it to see if they can get her on fraud.
She never made a deposit to the account so can’t really claim the money was hers.
I told my niece to contact the IRS because I really doubt she claimed it as income.
She left paper trails everywhere.
In the end, even if he doesn't get any money back, she may well pay for her fraud.
It pays to be very careful who you let have POA if you become unable to handle your own affairs.
I really hate it when someone either physically (and she may have ) or mentally abuses an older person or takes advantage or them to steal their belongings.
My sincere hope is that the IRS gets her and gives her the maximum penalty for Income Tax evasion.
I
