dad has alzheimers, second wife has taken his money!

[killmayne]

North Carolina

My dad is 78, has moderate alzheimers. He is very stubborn, and loathes lawyers. He has no estate plan as far as i know, not even a living will. I recently found out that his wife has moved $70K out of their joint bank acct, closed it, and moved into her own private acct. He doesn't understand the situation and what has happened. He is likely not of sound mind.

He needs daily attention from family members as the wife is out 3 mos with hip replacement surgery. There is no money in their joint account for in-home care at the moment since all the money is in her acct and she refuses to provision any for his care. Meanwhile, her family (son & daughter inlaw) have obviously been making the most of the situation and squandering a lot of the money. Most of his assets are probably JWROS, or joint tenants in common. Me and my family are afraid that he will need medical care soon, and won't have any way to pay for it. We're also concerned about the possibility of foul play where the wife stands to collect on some amount of life insurance money. His wife sister works in nursing home and has access to all kinds of strong medication. I dare to think....


What legal options or avenues can me and my family take to protect my dad from the wife and her family?

Thanks for any advice or help! Please post advice here in the forum.

Regards,
-Greg [email protected].

 

[loku]

Conservatorship?

If you can possible afford it, you should probably retain a lawyer familiar with elder law matters:

If your father has truly lost mental competence, and is unable to exercise rational control over his property, the courts may appoint a "conservator" in a "conservatorship" proceeding.

Just because someone is acting a bit eccentric is not likely to be sufficient to justify the appointment of a conservator. The courts are likely to respect a person’s wishes to control his or her own affairs unless convinced that the person really needs to be protected against him or herself.

A very careful determination of mental capacity must be made, and this typically involves at least one physician, often a psychiatrist, and a lawyer familiar with elder law matters.

The court could also look into any possible misappropriation of his funds that has already happened, and immediately stop the use of any of the funds.