Power of Attorney Spending Large Amounts Of Money On Himself

[latigo]

I'm in Texas. My oldest brother became Power of Attorney in February 2011 when my mother had a stroke and was deemed medically unable to handle her finances any longer. He took over handling all the money of my mother's estate, which included 3 or more bank accounts. We are hearing and seeing that he is using large amounts of her money for himself, buying visibly substantial items with her money for himself. Her will states that the money is to be equally divided between her 3 children upon her passing, but at this rate there may not be any left. Oldest brother will not share current financial information even when asked by other brother and sister. He has made only one verbal statement trying to say that the amount of her accounts only totaled around $75,000 when he took them over, but we already know she had over
$160,000 in one account alone. How can we truthfully find out the total amount of money he took over? Will this have to be done by bank subpoenas when my mother passes and the will is read? My main question is, how will we be able to prove how much money he has wasted on himself if we don't know how much money he started out with?

Also we were basically told before that there's nothing we can do to stop him from spending up all of her money, short of hiring a lawyer, which we can't afford. Is this true, there's nothing we can do?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help. We are at wit's end.

What is needed is the court appointment of some responsible family member (or perhaps a pair) as guardian or co-guardians of your mother’s person and her estate. (Texas Estate Code Title 3 Guardianships, etc.)

Once such an appointment is secured the guardian(s) would be empowered to take the same legal action against the son as would the mother. That is the victim's rights against the perpetrator. (Ibid Sec. 1151.101. Guardians general powers and duties.)

Including, but not limited to, voiding his powers, compelling him to render before a court of law a fully documented accounting of his activities as her attorney-in fact, and if any financial abuses are made evident then obtain a money judgment for restitution.

But as you have been told the services of an attorney will be required.

Have you made any effort to speak with an attorney on the subject?

You should have no difficulty finding several willing to sit and listen to your story. And perhaps one might be willing to defer payment and look to the assets held by your mother as a source for his or her fees. That is not unheard of!

BUT NO ONE IS GOING TO COME KNOCKING ON YOU DOOR! You need to start the knocking.

Also you might communicate with the Office of the Texas Attorney General 800-252-5400 for information related to confronting elder abuse.

If you have substantial proof that acts of embezzlement have and/or are occurring, then of course, there are law enforcement detectives and fraud investigators.

But again they are not going to come looking for you!

Snooze and you lose!

_____________________________

One final important suggestion.

If your mother is capable of understanding *, have her execute an acknowedge a Revocation of Power of Attorney. You will readily find a downloadable (sic) form on the Net. At least two with her signature and the notary's jurat.

Then deliver a signed copy to the son and a reproduced copy to every institution where you believe she has funds on deposit.


[*] She doesn't need to be as menatally sharp as she was in her 20's. Just so she is conscious of the purpose of the revoking document.

Good luck

 

[Isis1]

Oldest brother was appointed POA years ago, it's in the will. Normally the eldest child gets the priviledge/

so mom trusted him. while she was of sound mind. huh....

and it's not always hte oldest child. mom can pick the family cat if she wants to. or a completely unrelated friend. my oldest won't be assigned as my POA. mom thought he could handle it.

 

[RRH1964]

first, as Isis said, if bro was such a bad guy, why is he POA? If brother never did anything, why is he POA?

and what I would do is irrelevant here but just as you, what I did would be limited to what funds I have available and/or what I was able to do on my own in court.


sorry but a will does not appoint a POA. In fact, a POA ceases (in almost every case) upon death of the testator.

and arguing the eldest gets privilege is a cop out.

Well maybe you can tell me how he got to be POA and we'll both know. Mom had a stroke, was accessed and deemed mentally unfit to handle her finances. Doctor signed something and next thing we knew oldest brother had taken over. I was told it was written in my father's will that oldest child was to serve as executor. So how that works, I'm not sure. But you people seem to be doing nothing but trying to bash me instead of help me. So thanks for the kind words and I'll let you get back to your other business.

 

[justalayman]

What is needed

great info lat and thanks for bringing something to this other than me berating the OP. I got caught up in the personal side and should have shut up awhile back.


RRH1964

my apologies for being so brusk but understand, your concern of the money appears (and it may simply have been a poor description of the situation but with all good intentions) to be for the wrong reasons. If you do end up attempting to do anything about this, remember: it is your mother's money until she passes. Whatever you do now should be for the concern of your mother and not for what is remaining once she is gone/

 

[RRH1964]

What is needed is the court appointment of some responsible family member (or perhaps a pair) as guardian or co-guardians of your mother’s person and her estate. (Texas Estate Code Title 3 Guardianships, etc.)

Once such an appointment is secured the guardian(s) would be empowered to take the same legal action against the son as would the mother. That is the victim's rights against the perpetrator. (Ibid Sec. 1151.101. Guardians general powers and duties.)

Including, but not limited to, voiding his powers, compelling him to render before a court of law a fully documented accounting of his activities as her attorney-in fact, and if any financial abuses are made evident then obtain a money judgment for restitution.

But as you have been told the services of an attorney will be required.

Have you made any effort to speak with an attorney on the subject?

You should have no difficulty finding several willing to sit and listen to your story. And perhaps one might be willing to defer payment and look to the assets held by your mother as a source for his or her fees. That is not unheard of!

BUT NO ONE IS GOING TO COME KNOCKING ON YOU DOOR! You need to start the knocking.

Also you might communicate with the Office of the Texas Attorney General 800-252-5400 for information related to confronting elder abuse.

If you have substantial proof that acts of embezzlement have and/or are occurring, then of course, there are law enforcement detectives and fraud investigators.

But again they are not going to come looking for you!

Snooze and you lose!

_____________________________

One final important suggestion.

If your mother is capable of understanding *, have her execute an acknowedge a Revocation of Power of Attorney. You will readily find a downloadable (sic) form on the Net. At least two with her signature and the notary's jurat.

Then deliver a signed copy to the son and a reproduced copy to every institution where you believe she has funds on deposit.


[*] She doesn't need to be as menatally sharp as she was in her 20's. Just so she is conscious of the purpose of the revoking document.

Good luck

Thank you for your generous reply and sincere attempt to help. It is very much appreciated and a quite a breath of fresh air. Thanks again.. and have a pleasant day!

 

[justalayman]

RRH1964;3058945]Well maybe you can tell me how he got to be POA and we'll both know

.somebody had to appoint him and dad's will does not control that.

Mom had a stroke, was accessed and deemed mentally unfit to handle her finances. Doctor signed something and next thing we knew oldest brother had taken over

.Ok, somewhere in there is obviously where the the POA was assigned, or was it really?

I was told it was written in my father's will that oldest child was to serve as executor.

exec is not POA. The will is brought into things only after the writer dies and dad's will does not control mom's situation.

But you people seem to be doing nothing but trying to bash me instead of help me.

again, my apologies if I misinterpreted your intent.

 

[tranquility]

A person is appointed attorney-in-fact (POA) by the principal or his conservator/guardian. If mom is covered by a power of attorney, it must be a durable power of attorney (I suspect a springing durable power of attorney.) as it seems to have come into effect when the doctor signed something. (Probably two doctors, but, no matter.) One does not become a POA by will. One does not stay POA to an incompetent principal unless the power is specifically designated.

Latigo got around my standing problem by getting standing through a conservatorship of the principal. In some states, a potential heir may be able to show enough connection to events otherwise to get standing. I accept latigo's representation that Texas is not one of them. (But then, we may be talking about the same thing. The same standing issue would come to those trying to get a conservatorship over mom.) At least it makes it clear how to jump the hurdle I mentioned.

Now what? The OP has:

We are hearing and seeing that he is using large amounts of her money for himself, buying visibly substantial items with her money for himself.

and,

What's going on with the money she and my father saved for all of their lives is a whole nother story. As I said, oldest brother is spending it all on himself.

Which, according to modern legal jargon, equals bupkis.

Of course, getting an accounting or other FACTS which indicate a problem is going to be an issue. My first place to go would be.....MOM. What's she say? Is she completely compromised or is she able to listen and understand your fears?

The only thing I disagree with latigo on this is the possibility of getting a payment deferral by the attorney. I think it is possible, but extremely unlikely. One problem is how long an attorney can keep the account receivable on the books. There is going to be a bunch of work and a good deal costs involved proving up such a case. Even with a win, how long until mom dies and the OP can get the money to pay the attorney? There is not money at the end of the rainbow; there's just the removal of the POA (and other remedies). The second has to do with the basic, "you have no heirs until you're dead" theory. Without a lot of financial facts the attorney (And, OP.) have no access to, no one can even guess how much wealth there is going to be transferred after probate to the OP. I'd think an attorney who is going to hold open a large AR for an undermined number of years would want to be sure there is going to be enough for his efforts. I don't think he could tell until a bit of work is done fact gathering up front.

 

[LdiJ]

Well maybe you can tell me how he got to be POA and we'll both know. Mom had a stroke, was accessed and deemed mentally unfit to handle her finances. Doctor signed something and next thing we knew oldest brother had taken over.

I suspect that your brother took himself to court and got appointed as her guardian, rather than as her POA. A POA must be given voluntarily and the person must be of sound mind. Obviously your mother wasn't.

I was told it was written in my father's will that oldest child was to serve as executor.

An executor of a will and a POA are completely separate things. An executor is responsible to handle the estate and distribute it according to the will, AFTER the person dies.

So how that works, I'm not sure. But you people seem to be doing nothing but trying to bash me instead of help me. So thanks for the kind words and I'll let you get back to your other business.

The problem is that we cannot help you unless we clearly understand what has transpired. Its pretty clear that you don't know exactly what transpired so you cannot explain it to us. Consult a local attorney

 

[tranquility]

Things do make a bit more sense if the brother was appointed guardian of mom by the court. It would make things a little easier now as a guardian needs to do annual reports/accountings to the court.

 

[ecmst12]

I am pretty sure that adult protective services WILL in fact care if the POA/guardian is misappropriating mom's funds. Even if she is not actively being abused or neglected, being stolen from is still something mom needs protection from.