Brother taking out credit card in Fathers name

[odqlesz]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? nj

I have taken care of my father for the last 5 years.
He is 77 and has alzheimers, his only income is ssi.

Now my brother finally stepped up to the plate and is
taking care of him. The problem is he is taken credit cards
out in our fathers name. He plans to use them for himself and
max them out and not pay a dime. He says when our father
dies so does his debt.

This is wrong! what can I do about it.

 

[justalayman]

are you willing to see your brother in jail? If not, stop now.

read here about exploitation:

http://www.state.nj.us/publicadvocate/seniors/elder/mandatoryreportingdescript.html

realize that the debts incurred in your fathers name will also be required to be paid with assets of his estate which you are likely going to inherit some portion. In other words; if dad has anything, brother is effectively stealing from you.

 

[odqlesz]

Our father has nothing, he gets $950 in ssi each month, but that
goes to his perscriptions, doctors and other expenses.

I would go forward with criminal charges against my brother.

I put a credit freeze out on two of the large credit agencies.

But there's nothing stopping him from removing it.

He had applied for about 7 credit cards before I put the freeze on.

 

[justalayman]

does anybody have a power of attorney (that would be in force regardless of his mental capacity)?

if you are willing to let your brother be punished as the law sees fit, I would start with reporting him as directed in the link. This is exploitation.

You can also contact the police and report the crime.

 

[odqlesz]

I have power of attorney but I showed him how to get it, so he
probably has it now too.
I am willing to see him punished.
I am in NJ but he went to SC where my brother lives.
I guess I should of said SC in the first post, so does the same law apply.

 

[justalayman]

sorry but he can't get it.

Once your father is mentally incapacitated, he cannot grant a POA.

If your father is not incapacitated, tell your father about the credit cards. If he doesn't want to do anything, there is nothing to do.

 

[justalayman]

No, the same law doesn't apply. That was specific to NJ. I'll see what I can find for South Carolina although you can still contact the police. There are still crimes involved.

 

[odqlesz]

He's between stages 5 and 6. Short term memory not that good.
It would be very easy for someone to get him to sign something.

If we told him, he would just say his son wouldn't do that and forget
5 minutes later that we told him about it.

Some past history, he has done this to him in the past about 10 years ago.
He racked up about 100 thousand worth of credit card bills. I had to walk
him through bankrupcy. I thought my brother had changed, but I guess I was wrong.

 

[justalayman]

doesn't sound like he would be considered competent for the situation. While he might sign something, given his condition, it would not be ruled valid due to his condition if challenged.

start here for the elder abuse/exploitation

https://dss.sc.gov/content/customers/protection/aps/index.aspx

or here:

http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/NCEAroot/Main_Site/Find_Help/State_Resources_Directory.aspx?state_id=sc

 

[KakitaOCU]

Since you're willing to see your brother face the actual consequences for this. Beyond what everyone else has already suggested, call the creditors.

When he opened these accounts were they just in his father's name or did he add himself as an Authorized User on the account? If it's the second then this becomes an even easier situation to deal with.

You might have to argue a bit to get to each one's actual Fraud Departments, but once you do. They can't not take a fraud report on the situation, and with you having PoA and with the evidence that is bound to be available (Transaction reciepts with forged signatures, or just him as an AB on the account) they will be happy to take these on as Fraud Application cases. More-over if he has enough debt between the various cards there is a fair to solid chance that you're looking at some real efforts on the parts of these banks to take care of the problem themselves. Reputation aside, most of them do legitimately care about their customers, especially seeing to it that their customers are not defrauded.

Also, at that point the victim becomes the banks, your father will be cleared of the fraudulent debt (technically there are some small fees they can still hit him with, but most reputable banks won't) and the Banks become the wronged party in regards to going after your brother.

But as mentioned, be aware you'll have to let him face justice. If you tell them your brother defrauded your father but aren't willing to provide them with his information so they can pursue this, then there's a chance they won't play ball with you.