i have been turned in to adult protective for abuse of my mother. adult protective has taken statements from my mother and others and i believe they think i am abusive. i am just crused. i gave up career and life to care for her. do i need attorney, and should i file charges for false statements made about me.
Then, enlist the aid of her family doctor, to have her mental stability evaluated.
I wonder does your mother have dementia? People with Alzheimer's will often accuse people of stealing from them or of holding them against their will. An APS worker will usually pick up on that, they have lots of experience with both real abuse as well as imagined abuse.
Speaking of elder abuse, the most common are physical and financial. As long as you are not beating her, or draining her bank accounts, you should be OK.
Finally, assuming that her claims are completely a figment of her imagination; by bringing these charges against you she is destroying whatever trust you have between you, and few people would blame you if you washed your hands of her and walked away.
But I will add one more thing. Assuming that you are not abusing her, you may want to ask yourself if you have perhaps gone a little overboard in trying to help and protect her? Sometimes well intentioned family members will dominate an older relative in an honest desire to help them. So ask yourself - are her charges a reaction to your interference with her self will. I only mention this last part if perhaps you may be wondering WHY she doing this...nevertheless good luck, I hope it resolves quickly for your sake.
This isn't unusual, but it has become more common now to report people who an elder accuses of abuse (and of course if there is abuse, they should be reported).
But there are many cases where dementia enters in and abuse is not the issue, it's the elder's memory and/or paranoia that is the issue. Still, once reported to social services, a situation becomes more serious. I'd start looking for people to back you up. If it goes too far, you may need legal help. I can see why you are crushed.
Carol