A Provocative Situation
Your elderly parents have moved to a retirement community. Your dad dies soon after, and your mother is finding her memory is not quite what it used to be. She has hired a sweet lady to live with and care for her inside her home. You have a secure feeling she is being well cared for because the caregiver is so kind and friendly when you call to inquire about your mother.
You did not know the caregiver was given a Power of Attorney by your mother, and that the caregiver is helping herself to your mother’s savings account. At the same time, the caregiver is confiscating the family heirlooms, which she will later tell you that your mother gave to her.
When stagecoaches went out of business in the southwest, the stage-coach robbers were left without work. Most of them moved to retirement communities and became caregivers for the elderly.
Preventive Law Move
Following are our recommendations when you have a family member who lives alone and brings in another person to help out:
1. Go through a licensed private fiduciary to assist you in finding someone who has been checked out by the agency.
2. Be sure your family member has an attorney who knows your family and who was instructed to watch out for your loved one.
3. Verify your family member has a certified public accountant (CPA) to handle all checks, receipts, financial information and prepare tax returns. Chances are a CPA will notice anything unusual when they review these documents in preparation of the tax return.
4. Make it a point for a family member to visit your loved one at least once every quarter to make sure their mental and physical condition has not deteriorated, and to generally check the living conditions.
5. Call the caregiver for frequent reports.
If you do all these things, chances are you will catch a rat before it bites.
