I had POA for my mother for 6 years until my sister just 2 days ago got my mother to sign another POA giving her POA. Is this legally binding since my mother has dementia. My mother has no concept of her financial affairs or even what she is signing. Her memory is extremely limited. My mother signed the POA with myself before she had dementia.
Thank you for your help.
After that many years chances are slim if was in early days then maybe but not after all this time - get her to a health care professional who can state what she is like now just days after the supposed signing - then sis has to prove that mom knew what she was signing as you are questioning it as valid -
Notify all banks etc that any new P.O.A. is under suspicion & should be valid only with a dr's certificate stating mom knew what she was doing .... not going to happen - good luck
People are legally competent until a court decides they are not. You need to speak to an attorney in your mom's area. In the meantime, notify your mom's accounts that the change of POA is in dispute.
If your mother has been definitively diagnosed with Alzheimers or or mentally debilitating dementia, she can NOT change her POA.
If she has not been diagnosed, get her to a doctor that can state whether or not she is mentally fit to understand what she is signing.
With that said, talk to an elder care attorney pronto because undue influence is difficult to prove.
Sometimes, even if a person has dementia, the courts will rule that the elderly person can still make a decision to change a POA.
Guardianship is also very difficult to obtain, unless your mother is diagnosed by a doctor, and likely you will need more than one opinion, as being unable to make financial or medical decisions on her own.
The reason why the courts and doctors are so strict is the elder financial fraud is on the rise.
The most likely person to attempt to take the elder's money is a family member who has POA.
One other way to handle this is to ask your mother if she is okay with the change. If she is not, she will likely have to change it back to you.
The fact that your sister change POA is suspicious. It appears to go against your mother's wishes.
It does not matter, if you are not caring for her, it was your mother's choice
Epic fail. Back to the drawing board, sigh...
If your mom lives with your sister, your sister should be getting paid for her care as well as mom paying her own way, ie rent, utilities, food and transportation.
You say your sister only wants moms money, that is not true by the facts you yourself have shared. Caregiving is very trying and you basically give up your life for the person you are caring for. Your sister has done this for your mom. Your dad may have seen things one way but the reality is that your sister, not you, brought mom into her home. Making her life difficult because of a dead person's wishes is really unfair and you should be helping your mom by helping your sister if you want to honor your dads request.
Sorry if that sounds harsh but you need to look at the reality of today, not 6 years ago.
Or your mother is living with your sister, in your sister's home, with your sister providing full-time care?
In the first, your sister shouldn't really need POA. It shouldn't be too difficult to refer any bills or expenses to you. Has that been happening smoothly up to now?
In the second, as I can tell you from experience, although it is possible and there are even advantages (transparency, avoidance of conflict of interest) to the absent sibling's being POA, it is overall a massive pain in the butt; and particularly so in the absence of reliable communication.
To answer your actual question: if you can demonstrate that your mother, at the time she signed your sister's new POA document, could not have understood what she was signing, then this new document is not valid and the previous POA stands.
Moving on to what the POA is actually for: who is paying your mother's bills? Who is managing her money? What, if any, accounting or reporting requirements were written into the document? And how do you want to move forward?
My mom's POA had one sib as primary, then other two of us listed as successors with me second. I provided care and did not have issues with doc's and such when I needed to as sib was not available. By any chance was mom's POA setup similarity?
Does sis have a difficult time with communicating mom's issues with you? Do you understand the issues? Do you offer support and understanding? You cannot transfer POA to sis unless she is setup as successor on the original POA. Mom is the only one that can assign POA.
My sib was in complete denial over mom's condition. Thought I was making it all up to support the need for mom having care. Have you provided sis time off so she can refuel and regroup? You might want to give that a shot so you better understand mom's care needs.
She should have had an attorney or doctor witness this new POA. To reassign one, they only need to understand in the moment the purpose of the POA. Dementia diagnosis does not automatically disqualify them from making POA type of decisions. Sis is providing care and it would be difficult to show in a court of law that mom was coerced in any way. The setup makes sense as far as what would work best for mom and mom trusts her because of all she does.
However, it was wrong that your sister made herself POA without you transferring it to her. If I were her I would have never taken care of her, and make you do ALL the hard dirty work including sacrificing your life--but that's me. I would have never taken care of her..whoever has POA should be the primary caregiver.
I would see an elder attorney ..she already had a POA.. what is her reason for another one?
Even if they forget after they signed it..they need to be able to have an understanding at the time they signed. If they have no concept of what the POA is or why they are signing it.. then no... they shouldn't have been able to sign it...