Suing adopted step sister abusing P.O.A. with elderly mom

[Mike gunn]

I was living with my mother taking care of her she is 74 years old with Alzheimer's and Dementia and a year ago she had a fall and had to go to the hospital an adopted step sister from her late huabands first marriage picked her up from the hospital got power of attorney and my mom never came back home, this was an estranged step sister who hadn't said more than ten words to her in 10 years anyways within four or five months she sold my mom's house and threw me and my brother out on the street literally sitting in front of house with nowhere to go after packing up and cleaning the whole house by ourselves so, my question is we were promised and that she would pay for us to move into a new place and two months rent and I also had a car that needed some engine work that was at the house she said to take it to the mechanics and have it fixed and she would pay for that as well but needless to say she didn't pay for us to get a place and she did not pay for me to get my car fixed either so I lost my car at the mechanics I recorded all the conversations with her saying she would do that and text messages as well do I have a civil lawsuit against her and what can I sue for exactly her actions caused me to be homeless for about 3 months lose my job my car and my house she is abusing her power of attorney my mother and I have filed a complaint with adult protection services for that matter

 

[Proserpina]

I was living with my mother taking care of her she is 74 years old with Alzheimer's and Dementia and a year ago she had a fall and had to go to the hospital an adopted step sister from her late huabands first marriage picked her up from the hospital got power of attorney and my mom never came back home, this was an estranged step sister who hadn't said more than ten words to her in 10 years anyways within four or five months she sold my mom's house and threw me and my brother out on the street literally sitting in front of house with nowhere to go after packing up and cleaning the whole house by ourselves so, my question is we were promised and that she would pay for us to move into a new place and two months rent and I also had a car that needed some engine work that was at the house she said to take it to the mechanics and have it fixed and she would pay for that as well but needless to say she didn't pay for us to get a place and she did not pay for me to get my car fixed either so I lost my car at the mechanics I recorded all the conversations with her saying she would do that and text messages as well do I have a civil lawsuit against her and what can I sue for exactly her actions caused me to be homeless for about 3 months lose my job my car and my house she is abusing her power of attorney my mother and I have filed a complaint with adult protection services for that matter

Mike, could you please tell us where you're located and perhaps edit your post so it's readable? (complete sentences help us help you)

 

[quincy]

I was living with my mother taking care of her she is 74 years old with Alzheimer's and Dementia and a year ago she had a fall and had to go to the hospital an adopted step sister from her late huabands first marriage picked her up from the hospital got power of attorney and my mom never came back home, this was an estranged step sister who hadn't said more than ten words to her in 10 years anyways within four or five months she sold my mom's house and threw me and my brother out on the street literally sitting in front of house with nowhere to go after packing up and cleaning the whole house by ourselves so, my question is we were promised and that she would pay for us to move into a new place and two months rent and I also had a car that needed some engine work that was at the house she said to take it to the mechanics and have it fixed and she would pay for that as well but needless to say she didn't pay for us to get a place and she did not pay for me to get my car fixed either so I lost my car at the mechanics I recorded all the conversations with her saying she would do that and text messages as well do I have a civil lawsuit against her and what can I sue for exactly her actions caused me to be homeless for about 3 months lose my job my car and my house she is abusing her power of attorney my mother and I have filed a complaint with adult protection services for that matter

I agree with Proserpina that we need your state name.

When you provide that, could you also tell us how old you and your brother are and why you and/or your brother did not pick your mother up from the hospital, leaving it to your stepsister to do so?

Promises that are not in writing are hard to enforce. I do not see that your stepsister or your mother had any obligation to pay for your car repairs or provide you and your brother with a (free?) place to live. Perhaps you can provide more details on your living arrangement with your mother.

Thanks.

 

[Mike gunn]

*corrected*

State of Arizona
City of Coolidge.
Small farming town in Pinal County.

I'm taking my brother out of this question

I had been living with my mom and taking care of her the last 5+ years, the only family member to do so, cooking/ cleaning/ driving her to appointments/ shopping/ paying her bills for her, keeping her company and taking care of our house.

The question regarding suing my sister for moving costs is because taking care of my mom consumed most my time and was my "job" by my mother's request. I was only given a 5 day notice that the house was sold and that I had to move and had lost access to a shared Bank account with my mother. At that time I was told numerous times that I would get help moving into a new place and 2 months rent to help out. Which I saved verbal and SMS messages of. My mom did not and would not let her boys be tossed out like that. She didn't even wanna sell if we were there.

My vehicle wasn't running and was a little sports car I had been working on, I was told by my sister (which I saved the messages) that if I took it down to the local mechanic that she would pay to have it fixed so I could have a running vehicle, so I towed it to the mechanics and she stopped talking to me after that. I think she just tricked me to get it off the property to sell the house. I had about a month left before it would be finished with myself working on it.


I was living with my mother taking care of her. She is 74 years old with Alzheimer's and Dementia. A year ago she had a bad fall and had to go to the hospital. After a week of being there an adopted step sister from her late huabands first marriage picked her up. I had no vehicle at the time to do so. My mom never came back home, she went to live with the step sister, this was an estranged step sister who hadn't said more than ten words to her in 10 years. Within 1 week of picking her up she got Power Of Attorney. At this point i had called numerous times trying to see what was going on with my mom. No one would call me back. A week later my mom came over to the house to pick up some belongings. This was the firsr I'd heard of her going to stay with the step sister. They said that my mom needed a female to take care of her but at the same time my mom was acting really nervous around me and kind of scared which is totally out of character. we're best friends and never even had so much as an argument. And that step sister was acting really angry with me and nervous. We too always had a good relationship. Then some allegations of abuse came up because my mother had bruising on her arms and little cuts and scratches. The bruises she would always get when she bumped her arm on anything as well as splitting the skin sometimes from her skin condition and little scratches on her from her dog climbing up on her and her cats as well she was always doctoring herself 4 little cuts and scratches which looked worse than they were because of her diabetic condition. There were no reports filed a mini abuse or any proof of any. The thought of hurting my mom makes me sick to my stomach I would never do that. I talked with my mom about it as well and she laughs and says she knows I would never do that. Then I even had the neighbors start telling me that they had heard that as well, that maybe I was abusing her or had caused her fall that's sent her to the hospital. And the way my mom acted with me which gave me an overwhelming sense of sadness made me start thinking that she was believing it at some points and that it was getting put in her head as well. Nobody has ever said anything directly to me about it though. When I asked my sister what it was about she started yelling and screaming and cursing me out something I've never seen before in her. and said the "state" called her to pick my mom up from the hospital and that is all she knows. which I don't think there was a call. Seems like Social Services caseworker if she would have to be involved for something like that to happen which my mom or I have had neither of those. At this time my sister said that they were going to have my mom stay with her and for 3 months she would take care of the bills at the house including my car payment from a car I was buying from my mother as well as the house utility bills and food for my mom's animals that were there. This will give me an opportunity to get a job and stop paying his bills myself. Those bills were not paid and the electricity was even shut off at one point with the bill over $1,000 for not being paid. After that three months had passed she came over and said she sold my mom's house and we had 5 days to get out. This was the day before Christmas. after packing up and cleaning the whole house by ourselves with not so much as a thank you from anyone except my mother who have this point could not remember if she was selling her house I was thrown out literally on the street in front of the house in the rain with my animals and all my belongings which would take up a 20 by 20 storage unit. The realtor, the buyers of the house as well as my mother had no problem with me staying there til after the first of the year which was 2 more days. It would be hard to find a place at that time with the holidays. but my sister wanted out of there right then so she could get the check. At this time I was expecting to have a U-Haul rented and get the money i was told i would to move into a new apartment. I never heard from my sister again. I've been out to her house a few times to visit with my mother but when she sees I'm there she immediately leaves. My mom is really in a bad state with her dementia and Alzheimer's and doesn't really have any idea what's going on with anything so I don't bother her with this too much. so, my question is since I was promised that she would pay for me to move into a new place and two months rent, a uhaul, my car repaired if I took it down to the mechanics but did not do any of that. Is that enough ground for a civil lawsuit. ( I had no money at this point and she knew that) (the car was was turned over to the mechanic because the fee for inspecting it and the original Towing Bill could not be paid, daily storage fees were starting to assess)
I recorded all the conversations, text messages and voicemails with her promising those things. If i do have ground's for a law suit. what can I sue for exactly her actions caused me to be homeless for about 3 months lose my job, my car, my house as well as slander of allegations of abuse which stay with you a lifetime.
she is abusing her power of attorney with my mother. The money for my mom's house is unaccounted for and gone as well as her last year's income with nothing to show. The house (mobile home) was appraised at $40000. my step sister sold it for $10,000 I have filed a complaint with adult protection services for that matter

(Added - I wanted to say also that for the last four years my mom was my source of income I didn't have any bills but I also had no money coming in directly that would allow me to save anything. That was an arrangement with my mom for me not to work so I could be there to take care of her)

Thank you, sorry if there are any errors still with punctuation can run on sentences there is a weird font on my phone it makes it hard to tell what's what.

If it is still better electrical I will try to correct it from a computer instead of using my phone thank you so much for your quick response I'm at a loss with all this

 

[quincy]

State of Arizona
City of Coolidge.
Small farming town in Pinal County.

I'm taking my brother out of this question

I had been living with my mom and taking care of her the last 5+ years, the only family member to do so, cooking/ cleaning/ driving her to appointments/ shopping/ paying her bills for her, keeping her company and taking care of our house.

The question regarding suing my sister for moving costs is because taking care of my mom consumed most my time and was my "job" by my mother's request. I was only given a 5 day notice that the house was sold and that I had to move and had lost access to a shared Bank account with my mother. At that time I was told numerous times that I would get help moving into a new place and 2 months rent to help out. Which I saved verbal and SMS messages of. My mom did not and would not let her boys be tossed out like that. She didn't even wanna sell if we were there.

My vehicle wasn't running and was a little sports car I had been working on, I was told by my sister (which I saved the messages) that if I took it down to the local mechanic that she would pay to have it fixed so I could have a running vehicle, so I towed it to the mechanics and she stopped talking to me after that. I think she just tricked me to get it off the property to sell the house. I had about a month left before it would be finished with myself working on it.


I was living with my mother taking care of her. She is 74 years old with Alzheimer's and Dementia. A year ago she had a bad fall and had to go to the hospital. After a week of being there an adopted step sister from her late huabands first marriage picked her up. I had no vehicle at the time to do so. My mom never came back home, she went to live with the step sister, this was an estranged step sister who hadn't said more than ten words to her in 10 years. Within 1 week of picking her up she got Power Of Attorney. At this point i had called numerous times trying to see what was going on with my mom. No one would call me back. A week later my mom came over to the house to pick up some belongings. This was the firsr I'd heard of her going to stay with the step sister. They said that my mom needed a female to take care of her but at the same time my mom was acting really nervous around me and kind of scared which is totally out of character. we're best friends and never even had so much as an argument. And that step sister was acting really angry with me and nervous. We too always had a good relationship. Then some allegations of abuse came up because my mother had bruising on her arms and little cuts and scratches. The bruises she would always get when she bumped her arm on anything as well as splitting the skin sometimes from her skin condition and little scratches on her from her dog climbing up on her and her cats as well she was always doctoring herself 4 little cuts and scratches which looked worse than they were because of her diabetic condition. There were no reports filed a mini abuse or any proof of any. The thought of hurting my mom makes me sick to my stomach I would never do that. I talked with my mom about it as well and she laughs and says she knows I would never do that. Then I even had the neighbors start telling me that they had heard that as well, that maybe I was abusing her or had caused her fall that's sent her to the hospital. And the way my mom acted with me which gave me an overwhelming sense of sadness made me start thinking that she was believing it at some points and that it was getting put in her head as well. Nobody has ever said anything directly to me about it though. When I asked my sister what it was about she started yelling and screaming and cursing me out something I've never seen before in her. and said the "state" called her to pick my mom up from the hospital and that is all she knows. which I don't think there was a call. Seems like Social Services caseworker if she would have to be involved for something like that to happen which my mom or I have had neither of those. At this time my sister said that they were going to have my mom stay with her and for 3 months she would take care of the bills at the house including my car payment from a car I was buying from my mother as well as the house utility bills and food for my mom's animals that were there. This will give me an opportunity to get a job and stop paying his bills myself. Those bills were not paid and the electricity was even shut off at one point with the bill over $1,000 for not being paid. After that three months had passed she came over and said she sold my mom's house and we had 5 days to get out. This was the day before Christmas. after packing up and cleaning the whole house by ourselves with not so much as a thank you from anyone except my mother who have this point could not remember if she was selling her house I was thrown out literally on the street in front of the house in the rain with my animals and all my belongings which would take up a 20 by 20 storage unit. The realtor, the buyers of the house as well as my mother had no problem with me staying there til after the first of the year which was 2 more days. It would be hard to find a place at that time with the holidays. but my sister wanted out of there right then so she could get the check. At this time I was expecting to have a U-Haul rented and get the money i was told i would to move into a new apartment. I never heard from my sister again. I've been out to her house a few times to visit with my mother but when she sees I'm there she immediately leaves. My mom is really in a bad state with her dementia and Alzheimer's and doesn't really have any idea what's going on with anything so I don't bother her with this too much. so, my question is since I was promised that she would pay for me to move into a new place and two months rent, a uhaul, my car repaired if I took it down to the mechanics but did not do any of that. Is that enough ground for a civil lawsuit. ( I had no money at this point and she knew that) (the car was was turned over to the mechanic because the fee for inspecting it and the original Towing Bill could not be paid, daily storage fees were starting to assess)
I recorded all the conversations, text messages and voicemails with her promising those things. If i do have ground's for a law suit. what can I sue for exactly her actions caused me to be homeless for about 3 months lose my job, my car, my house as well as slander of allegations of abuse which stay with you a lifetime.
she is abusing her power of attorney with my mother. The money for my mom's house is unaccounted for and gone as well as her last year's income with nothing to show. The house (mobile home) was appraised at $40000. my step sister sold it for $10,000 I have filed a complaint with adult protection services for that matter

(Added - I wanted to say also that for the last four years my mom was my source of income I didn't have any bills but I also had no money coming in directly that would allow me to save anything. That was an arrangement with my mom for me not to work so I could be there to take care of her)

Thank you, sorry if there are any errors still with punctuation can run on sentences there is a weird font on my phone it makes it hard to tell what's what.

If it is still better electrical I will try to correct it from a computer instead of using my phone thank you so much for your quick response I'm at a loss with all this

There seems to be a lot going on here. I am thinking that a forum is not going to be of much help to you. What you need is a legal professional local to you who can review all of the facts and advise you accordingly.

Good luck.

 

[justalayman]

It's a bit late to contest it now but it is unlikely she could grant a POA after being diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's. If the POA was obtained after that time it was likely not valid and would not be now either. You might have an action against her if she improperly obtained a POA and used it to take actions that adversely affected you. It could even rise to a criminal matter if she used the POA to benefit herself.

As well it being too late to contest the matter now; you could not be required to leave the property in only 5 days.

The problem with contesting the POA is it costs money which is likely in short supply for you.


Has anything come of your report to whatever agency reporting a possible elder abuse issue?

I agree with Quincy that there isn't likely to be much help here and it requires the assistance of a legal pro. That ddoesnt mean the folks here won't try to give you some direction but in the end, anything you might be able to is beyond a do it yourself activity.

 

[latigo]

. . . . . Promises that are not in writing are hard to enforce. . . .

Likewise hard to enforce (in all 50 states) are promises that are not supported by adequate consideration; an essential element lacking in every instance the deadbeat OP is bellyaching about.

Also noticeably absent from the whining is any indication, mention or inference whatsoever that this "girl" - who is in fact his mother's stepdaughter - supposedly acting under the power of attorney - took any action with respect to his mother's and her stepmother's property that were not in the mother's best interests, or that she personally benefited!

Even if there were misdeeds or misfeasance committed by the stepdaughter detrimental to the mother's interests, or her authority could be successfully challenged, (other than the remote possibility that in ejecting the two leeches she interfered with a vested leasehold interest) - the OP is no position to seek legal redress. "The real party interest" under whose name(s) all lawsuits are to be brought or defended would be the mother herself, or a court appointee proceeding on her behalf or that of her estate. Not the OP!

And that is true irrespective of where these "tragedies" occurred - Brownsville, Texas or Nome, Alaska.

 

[Mike gunn]

Thank you.

Thank you for all your advice. I went ahead and took some of it. I went ahead and hired legal counsel because I believe this would all be too much for me to handle on my own. So thank you once again. I also wanted to answer a couple questions that were asked. The first one was asking if there was any out come to the report that I filed with Adult Protective Services. They review my report and accepted my claim and assigned it to and investigator in her area. That was a week ago. I'm going to call tomorrow morning and see what the status is on it But you were all very helpful except for "latigo" which kind makes me second guess if I'd use a site like this again. I came across it while looking for help for questions I had no answer to. And let out some personal information I didn't I expect to be belittled and put down. I thought this website with designed for people to ask questions and get answers. Being referred to as a leech and that i was whining about my situation was not something I expected. Latigo you could have easily overlooked this question and moved on to the the next one. But for your information, The adopted step sister was adopted from my Mon's late husband's first marriage with a 12 year age difference between her and my mom. My mom had nothing to do with raising her. She was fully grown and out of the house. I gave up a decent career in Los Angeles after my moms parents passed away and her husband as well as my older brother, all within a 2 year period. That was a difficult time for my mom. That was her only family in town and her support system, she was alone and struggling with medical conditions and needed somebody there. She asked if I would come stay with her. It was hard for me to do, I struggled with the decision. I wanted to live my life I had built in L.A. I did what any good son should do and came back to Arizona, to small town I despised to be there my mom. As far as the two leeches comment, I never said anything about getting anything from my mom. I had no bills and I took no money from her and did not expect anything from her and I still don't. I didn't have to pay rent or house bills while there but that was it. I never said I was broke I said at the time this was happening I had no money saved up. I immediately went back to work and I am making a somewhat decent living again doing what I love. I don't need a settlement from my sister. I just want her to pay for what she's done because I feel tricked and cheated and she's running around nonchalant without giving a second thought to position that she had put me in, acting like nothing happened when it did affect me and I don't think that's fair. I thought that's what laws were set up for, to protect the public and to help them not be taken advantage of or cheated by other people and to protect you. As far as my little brother you've heard nothing of but decided he was at leech as well, he was only at the house the three weeks because he just started getting a divorce afterr 17 years of marriage, with his wife taking the house and no where to go. And knowing the situation with my mom. He come down there for a month or so and help me try to straighten things out and keep her company as well. Maybe some other forum members or page moderator, if you have one, might want to let Latigo know that is no way to treat somebody who is simply using a service that you offer. Its easy to spread the word about social websites nowadays. Thank you very much for the advice that I was looking for. I will post back with the outcome of all this.

 

[Zigner]

Likewise hard to enforce (in all 50 states) are promises that are not supported by adequate consideration; an essential element lacking in every instance the deadbeat OP is bellyaching about.

Sis said "If you move your car off the property and take it to the mechanic, then I'll pay for the mechanic to fix it." OP relied on that promise and performed an act that he would otherwise would not have performed.

The phrase detrimental reliance keeps ringing out in my head.

I think that a ton of information has been left out and/or twisted by the OP, so I'm not saying that detrimental reliance would apply here, but, based only on what we've been told, I could see an argument being made.

 

[Zigner]

I find it telling that the OP isn't concerned on bit about his mom, rather, he's only concerned about himself.