Dad makes frequent trips to bank, taking out large amounts of money. What can I do?

How is the account titled? How is he withdrawing cash, via ATM or via check?

Others may have better ideas, but I would take my POA papers into the bank and ask for their advice. Many banks have their own POS forms that they want completed, so you may need to bring dad in to complete those.

I would make it clear to the bank that you are concerned that dad is being scammed by someone or that YOU, because you have access to the account, will be accused of having taken the monies.

talknow9, is Dad using a check to get out the funds? If yes, you can have new checks made where both your signature and Dad's signatures needs to be on the checks.

If he is using ATM, ask the bank how to either block him from using it or set it so Dad can only get a certain amount of money within a 24 or 48 hour span.

Or move most of the money into a Money Market. That way Dad will run out of money from his regular account that he has been using. Maybe then that will be a wake up call for him... or maybe not.... [sigh].

Otherwise, ask the bank for recommendations.

If Dad only used a credit card instead of cash, at least you would know where he is spending his money.

Dear talknow,

Freqflyer and Barb have excellent suggestions. I would start with talking to the bank about limiting the daily withdrawal. I know a daily limit can be set in place by the customer to limit fraud.

I would try and talk to your dad and see if you can get to the bottom of why he feels he needs to withdraw this money. Are his meds affecting his behaviour? I wonder if the meds are causing new and unknown side effects?

What is he doing with the funds he withdraws? Is he spending them, or saving them at home?

Am dealing with the same issue with my father in law. Found out after they lost everything to hurricane Harvey that He has been giving his money away to a guy that was "helping them around the house". The banks are all aware of what is going on so now he can only get cash by going in the bank. I only keep so much in his acct at a time. And I pay his bills online because he doesn't remember to pay them. He also had a neighbor that stole his check book. Dementia is a terrible disease and people that take advantage of the elderly just make me sick.

Thanks for all of your suggestions. When I ask what he does with the money, I can't tell if he is lying because he doesn't want me to know or if he really doesn't know, but he just says that he has bills. I pay all of his bills, except for his rent. And he paid his November rent twice within a few days of each other, so I know that he is confused. I asked if he was giving it to someone and he said no, but I'm not confident in that answer. He drives himself to the bank and makes cash withdrawls. I already asked someone at the bank if I could put a limit on withdrawls and they said that I could not. She said that I would have to get an attorney to take over his finances. There must be an easier way than hiring an attorney. @Jkrystal5 you mentioned that you only keep a limited amount in your father in law's account - this is what I have been thinking. Do you have a separate account so that you can easily transfer money back and forth from "his" account? Thanks again. Good luck to everyone.

Do you do online banking?

It seems to me that if YOU are on the account, you can do any d@mn thing you want!

Rant over. So, take dad to an elder care attorney (on dad's funds). Explain what is happening and have the lawyer explain to dad that smart older people get scammed all the time and that it is in dad's best interest to have someone else (you) look after his money.

Examine your POA and see what its terms are.  Was it prepared by a lawyer?  Does it require incapacity?

Send a letter, return receipt to dad's doctor and describe what is happening.  Take dad in for his next appointment and discuss this with the doc and dad. 

And let us know what happens; we learn from each other here!

Please understand that if your father is taking out large or small sums of cash from his bank and there is no supporting evidence of where the money went, if he needs Medicaid for long term care it may be denied. Large sums of cash withdrawn without explanation is a red flag for gifting with state run Medicaid and Medicaid can refuse to pay for care.

Definitely talk to the people at the bank. Ours were as helpful as they could be within the rules of the bank. But they were contrained by the rules, and could not refuse to let him withdraw, as long as his name was on the account...I agree with the suggestion to move most of the money out of you dad's account. I did the same thing with my dad, when he at age 90, got a "girl friend" and suddenly was making lots of withdrawals. I was named on the account, so had no trouble withdrawing all except a small amount, and moving it to a Money Market at a different bank. I told him the move was so he could get a much higher interest rate. That was good with him. (He really didn't have the cognitive ability to figure how to get to that bank.) That account was in both our names also, so he could still see the amount on monthly statements with his name on them, so that satisfied him.

I had POA for both of my parents, but ended up having to get Legal Guardianship through the courts. Their caregiver at the time was taking my Dad to the bank to take out a total of $2,000.00 a month in cash. By the time I stepped in, over $25,000.00 had been taken. She is now going to trial for exploitation of the elderly.
Legal Guardianship is the best way to get everything under control financially. I had the banks change the address on the accounts and the accounts had to have specific wording on them. I also moved all of the money to a new bank so my parents wouldn't have access to the money. Both of my parents have Alzheimer's.

I dealt with that problem for several years. Dad had no bills to pay, he only bought groceries and cigarettes but once withdrew over $1200. in two weeks and couldn't account for it. I opened a second account and would transfer all but $300 as soon as he got his social security. That allowed me to track what he was taking . When he could no longer go to the bank I put his (trusted) caregiver on the account and got him one of those small hotel safes. The caregiver would get several hundred dollars from the bank and keep it in the safe to pay for daily items. When dad passed we found several thousand dollars hidden away in various places. Money had been a serious issue for years since he had so little and would constantly forget where he hid it.

TalkNow, you don't necessarily need an attorney to take over your father's finances. I suspect that whoever told you that was thinking in terms of getting authority under a POA.

If you're a co-owner/signer on the account, I would set up another account and periodically transfer funds from it, but don't tell him. And keep the account numbers secret, arrange to have the statements sent to you (that's what I did).

I also said that my name should be first in the ownership title so that the 1099s for interest would be in my name, as my income was lower and wouldn't reach a threshold of having to include the interest in a tax return.

This is really a difficult situation, though, if as your father loses ability to manage his accounts/finances and bills, it affects his self esteem.

Our son took my husband to the science museum where they had a very good time. Husband came home with a large bag of lovely items from the gift store. Son shrugged. "Dad had a checkbook on him and I didn't know if I should try to stop him or not." This was a good wake up call for me. I started setting ground rules in front of anyone who took him out. "If you find something you like in the gift shop, dear, you can buy ONE thing." I talked hubby out of carrying a check book or credit cards when he wasn't expected to pay for anything, to "prevent identity theft."

We went to the bank together and removed his name from our joint account and set up a small checking account with just his name on it. He could use this to pay for his haircuts and golf and bowling. It made him feel independent to do this. But the risks were limited because the amount in the bank was small.

This post brings up other concerns for me. Dad has dementia. Dad is still driving. That to me might be a bigger risk than Dad's financial behavior. Is he really still safe to drive? An accident could wipe him out financially, not to mention the personal damage to himself and others.

And also, this man has been very frugal for many years, and apparently now wants the pleasure of having money available. I think I might feel that way too, if I had a fatal disease. Of course he cannot use all his money up now because he will need it to last for however long he has. But instead of focusing only on how to prevent his withdrawals, I think I'd try to help him feel rich and entitled to have nice things/money in a home safe/money to give as gifts -- whatever "reward" he wants for all those frugal years, but within reason considering his long-term needs. This might take a lot of effort and time on your part (or someone close to him.) Maybe there is a weekly trip to the bank to withdraw a predetermined amount, and then a trip to spend some -- a nice meal out, a new bathrobe, a movie, etc., and then a return home to put the rest of the money in the safe. Does he want a more extravagant item? He could supplement his weekly withdrawal with some money from the home bank, and get a new TV.

Maybe there are more creative ways to let him have the benefit of having money without that much effort on the part of someone else. My suggested weekly bank outing may not fit Dad's situation. But the goal -- letting Dad have the pleasure of some "frivolous" spending after so many years of being frugal -- seems to me very valid.

How old is Dad, btw?

Good points, Jeanne. I like to see suggestions that support instead of control.

I had the same problem with my aunt. She had stopped driving, so when she had a ride to the bank she thought she should take more than usual out not knowing when she would get another ride. That might be at most $200.
I didn't worry too much until I got a call that she had taken $5000 out. It turned out to be only $500 but she still didn't know what she had done with it by the time we sat down to discuss it.
My husband and I had a talk with her and she said I don't think I should have my check book anymore.
So that stopped it.
She was always very generous and to this day if she gets $40 in a card as a gift she will try to give $20 of it to her aid.

Take Dad to the Social Security office.
They will assign you as "Representative Payee".  
He may cooperate with the authority and rules of SS behind how you handle his finances.
You will be required to keep the funds in an account that he doesn't have access to, specially titled:  "(daughter) , as rep payee for, (father).
Start paying all his bills, including rent. (The all or nothing mindset, so he will no longer worry about paying bils.)
You will also be required to give him an allowance for his needs.
Very little cash to carry.
I recommend using gift cards...grocery store etc.

jeannegibbs, my husband's doctor had to mandate report him to the California DMV when he diagnosed husband with Alzheimer's. DMV sent him a letter forbidding him to drive until he was tested. He passed both the written and driving test, so he got his license back. The insurance company said as long as he was licensed he would be covered. DMV will call him in for testing each year. If I or Doctor thinks he shouldn't be driving we go to DMV and fill out a form and they will bring him for testing. I notice he is ok in town. We went to another town and he was totally turned around. I am going to find an excuse to go with him if he goes out of town.

talknow9, I am at a loss how to help you. My husband got scammed for $600.00 with a phone call. I got caller ID and he is afraid to answer the house phone any more. I have family call him on his flip top cell phone. He can't manage smart phone.

I am dealing with a parallel issue. I live in TX (middle child), Mom is back home in AZ. My older sister "lives" with Mom (my Uncle and I call it she just sleeps there) and professes to be the 24/7 caregiver for Mom/Step-Father.
Mom, my Uncle and me all worked on Mom's legal papers (which have "disappeared" this past December while Mom was in the hospital). I had Med POA and would be the dicision maker if one would need to pull the plug (yes, the living will has disappeared). Mom wanted me to take care of everything....her words...I know I can trust you to take care of me and everything after I'm gone.

I made a 'surprise' trip home this past January as Mom has dementia and things just didn't sound right during her hospital stay in December (my sister convinced her that I was the reason she had to stay in the hospital pretty much the month of December).

l called and told my Step-Father I was in town and would see them the next day AFTER MY SISTER WENT TO WORK (night shift). I arrived at the appointed time, NO ONE WAS HOME!! The neighbor approached me like...who are you and what are you doing? I asked him where Mom was...answer...your Mom was taken to the hospital this morning around 6:00. No call or text from my sister and this was around 2:00 in the afternoon. Needless to say, my sister was extremely surprised and 'attitude' changed right there on the spot.

Mom had asked my Step-Father a few days later to bring the bills to her so she could pay them. I asked her where they were so I could get them ready most important first etc. I had to go through 3 baskets of bills which also contained past due bills. Mom always had me take care of their money issues when we still lived in AZ while they were on vacation etc. Both Mom/I are 30+ yrs each bankers, so I knew what to do about the past due bills.

My sister told me that she always goes over the bills with Mom, she makes the checks out and Mom signs them. I pulled out the easiest past due so as to explain why this bill was behind. Sister became EXTREMELY UPSET with me for having gone through the bills in the first place. Sister stressed that she personally "walked" the payment into the creditor's office. Now comes the basic math regarding the bill, she was infactic that this creditor had to be wrong (1st clue). I told her that I know what to do and had verified the past due etc. This then became a very heated debate and then she brought in Mom's Will is missing and she is going to have Mom redo the Will because the State will take every thing from "us". Don't mess with a banker that had to deal with these type of issues. The more she talked the more I listened and started to get a clearer picture of what is going on.

All of that made me start looking into lawyers who deal with Estate Law. I have a membership with JustAnwer.com (many complain about this company). I always refer my questions regarding my understanding of AZ Law once I have read through the Law and Statutes and provide him with that so he is able to research. This attorney has been a great source of knowledge.

Ok, Google your State's Law regarding Elderly Finance Abuse. Most likely you will get a link for a printable PDF. AMAZING WHAT YOU WILL FIND HERE. You should also get a PDF printout regarding proper/accepted Notary Laws for your State also. I have found 2 fraudulant actions by my sister so far.

1. If you are on as a joint owner of the account, you can do what you need to do with the money i.e. have the bank note that your Father cannot withdraw without your knowledge, hence you give the ok or not.
2. If you have Power of Attorney to act for your Father financially, the bank will need this on file. It must contain all of your duties allowed financially including withdrawing money or not. There will be a Banker who knows the ins-outs of this.
3. With a proper POA, you can have the account 'flagged' as 'protected'. This means that the bank will review each transation daily, including ATM withdrawals and watch for suspicious transactions i.e. ATM withdrawals late at night when you know he should be home.
4. You have the right to file an investigation of concern for possible money fraud. Anyone can file this investigation with the bank. Be prepared to answer questions regarding your Father's health, living alone, who does he have most contact with etc.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PROVIDE YOUR NAME FOR THIS REPORT!!! IF THE BANK REFUSES BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT YOU NAME ON THE REPORT, THEY ARE IN VIOLATION OF 31 U.S.C. sec 5318 (g) (3) THIS IS A FEDERAL LAW WHICH OVER RIDES STATE.
5. An investigation # will be assigned (you will not have access to that). The investigation department will go through the majority of his transactions to see if there is a pattern. If things do not look kosher, they MUST inform Adult Protection AND Law Enforcement. YOU will receive notifiaction from the bank should this become necessary. Only the bank personnel you spoke with will have contact with you.

If someone in the family suspects that you have filed, it is your RIGHT to LIE about it. You are not under any obligation to tell anyone that you did file the report.

I did this just last night because things just were not feeling right after almost a year now. That gut feeling has just taken over and I can't stop researching.

Yes, I felt guilty about doing this, but I have to protect my Mother. Always have and always will, especially when one has siblings that, shall we say, have a colorful past.

****I have Mom's Will and my sister can make Mom redo it, but it won't hold up in Court because of the AZ Law regarding changes to a Will****

I also want to thank Aging Care for bringing things to light which have also given the gumption to research/talk with an attorney (even though he's on line, but I can speak directly with him on the phone if need be).

Good Luck to you and please, take a deep breath, pray and God is telling you something or you wouldn't have this on your mind.

I had similar situation with uncle except housecleaner was taking his ATM card. (She will now be going to jail)
Bottom line - transfer money into 30 day CDs or money market so there is no money at least for ATM. Not sure what would happen if he goes to teller.

There must be some financial exploitation going on by someone. Look into guardianship.

talknow9, I read your answer and some of the suggestions from others.

These answers are pretty much text book.

REMEMBER....Attoneys can be scammers too, especially if you place them in charge of the money!!

All of us on this chat want to do our very best when it comes to our parents. I am not suggesting that any of the answers here are wrong by any means, so please do not take it that I feel like I know everything about dealing with agings parents.

Even though I did deal with situations when I was in banking, there are things that a banker is limited with when it comes to involvement. In some cases a banker cannot even suggest what one should or should not do in these matters.

Trust Officers can also be scammers. Scammers are in every line of profession one can think of; look at the doctors who have lost their license to practice or sent to jail for fraud with Medicare/Medicaid. It happens.

Kindnessandlove made a great suggestion, the question is Kindnessandlove are you an only child? Even if you are, research what happens within your State when it comes to Estate Law. You maybe surprised.

For every action there is a reaction (Einstein) and you really must deal with the reaction that you will encounter due to your action should there be siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews; anyone in the family can contest the Will and/or 99.9% of what you decide to do. Be ready for that.

My Mother agreed for me to have/pay in-home care for her and my Step-Father; that is until my sister finally understood that $2000 a month was not 24/7 or give her the weekends off (which she does anyway).

My Mother has dementia and diabetes, Step-Father Alzheimers (he still drives!). As I stated in my previous post, my sister professes to be their 24/7 caregiver. How can one claim that when they work 8-10 on the night shift AND spends weekends with her daughters/grandchildren to be 24/7 caregiver? Not in my book.

I thank God everyday that my Uncle (Mom's youngest brother) took care of my grandparents all of his life, especially after grandpa died. He/wife/son took care of grandma until she died. Grandma lived in a nursing facility that was like a condo! I couldn't afford to live in anything even now like she did.


Research your State Laws. Call the Secretary of the Courts to help direct you too. They were great when 1 of my siblings was arrested/charged/prison with a white collar crime. That was so much fun telling my parents that 1 of the siblings was lying to them about that!!!

If you have any friends who are attorneys, ask their advice and could they direct you to someone that they trust. Do not take someone's answer, doesn't matter who it is, as gospel. Open every door available to you before you decide on 1 solution.

Every situation is different, believe me, from a banker's perspective and now being on the other side of the issue.

Remember too, attorneys cost $$$. Should you decide to get guardianship/conservatorship you will most likely be taken to court by any family member. In many cases, if the parent you are asking the Court to give you this responsibility (who will be represented by a Fiduciary Attny) is able to answer any where from 1-3 questions asked by the Court correctly....YOU LOSE. You will be responsible for all Court costs/attorney costs etc.

Hind sight is 20/20. I never thought I had to be remotely concerned about the possibilities of any of my 3 siblings doing anything that would jepordize my Mother. Now, I wish, as my Uncle had told me to do; had everything absolutely ready to go so that no one could take the responsibility for the care of Mom away from me. I gave them all the benefit of the doubt and I was wrong. I wanted to be nice about everything when it came to Mom etc, don't make that mistake. I would have gladly paid an attorney to write the legal docs that could not be over turned by any of my siblings, but I didn't; I didn't listen to my heart or gut. That angel on my right shoulder was tapping, but I ignored it.

I will be honest going through this now. I have 3 siblings who are going to be in for a very big surprise in the end. I have learned that I can't always think of others and their feelings within the family. Hard lesson learned.

A few things come to mind not knowing your particular situation. One thing I'm thinking is are you sure he's not being scammed out of that money?

Another question I have is are you sure he's not spending it?

My third thought is maybe he's scared of someone robbing him, and I don't blame him for being concerned. If you have financial POA over him, you're in a position so many are often in and you have a perfect opportunity to take advantage of him and he may be withdrawing all his money because of you. Perhaps since he probably knows you have POA, he's probably a whole lot smarter than you think and he's probably doing the only thing he knows to protect his money and I don't blame him. My bio dad who developed Alzheimer's at some point also had a POA living with him and she ended up taking advantage of him and in light of that, as long as your dad is only holding onto the money and not giving it to a scammer or spending it all, then I don't blame him for hanging onto his money. That's because anytime someone has financial POA over you, there's always a very high risk of that POA proving themselves on trustworthy and robbing blind the person they're supposed to be looking out for and protecting. In light of that and knowing what happened to my bio dad, I too, would also be doing the exact same thing and pulling as much of my money out as absolutely possible in order to protect it from some vulture most likely to take advantage of me. I strongly believe your dad knows a whole lot more than you may realize, and remember, he helped bring you into the world and also helped raise you unless he was a single parent and did it all. Parents who kept their kids and raised them know their kids pretty well I must say. He's probably onto the fact that usually family and other close people are looked at first as potential vultures who often prey upon their aging parents and take everything from them that they possibly can. I know it's not true in all cases, but it's true in more cases than not with a few exceptions being people outside the family including but not limited to abusive guardians. Your dad was probably saving for his golden years and now he's probably just trying to enjoy what life he has left and trying to enjoy his savings during the time he has left. If your dad happens to have out-of-pocket medical expenses that his insurance may not cover, he probably maybe wanting to make sure he can cover those and necessities. Your dad is probably just wanting to make sure the money will actually be available when it's needed from what I'm gathering. I also think your dad is probably feeling like he's losing control of his life and he's probably trying to protect what control he has left and one of them is his finances. Maybe what you need to do if you can convince him to put his money back into the bank and work with the banker is set up online bill pay from his end to automatically pay his bills. Set it up where he can't withdraw no cash but he can use his debit card at the checkout. See if the banks system can prevent him from ever withdrawing cash even from the ATM by simply putting some kind of fraud alert on the account that still allows his bills to come out from his end and still allows him to use his debit card at the checkout. This would be about the only way I can think of to make sure he has money will still be there.

Of course another thing I've heard of on here is setting up where the person needing protection requires multiple signatures to withdraw the cash. This can be set up with the arrangement that no one else touches that money and definitely the trustees can't touch it either but just sign for any withdrawals. If you think about it though, these days carrying cash is really not necessary much anymore in most areas of our daily lives since most places actually accept plastic. I have heard of some places that don't take debit cards and I wouldn't do business with them because they only take regular credit cards which actually charge more due to fees and one good example is a card I called net spend. They actually charge monthly fees and I wouldn't want one especially knowing my debit card is free. Going digital is about the best financial decision I ever made besides opening my able account. I'll clue you in on one little secret. If you open your dad a Tennessee able account, they have no card. That's because it's strictly a savings account that you linked to your bank account. If you need a withdrawal, you go onto the website and request a withdrawal. Last I knew they could not electronically route the money back into your account unless they were reversing your last deposit. What I found out is they process your withdrawal request and it takes about 10 days to send you a check in the mail that you take to your bank and cash or deposit. They do take out-of-state applicants and perhaps you can have your dad allow for the bank to help him open the Tennessee able account and sweep all of his savings into that and just give him a small allowance for absolute basic necessities. Another thing you can do is take some of his savings and help him set up his final arrangements like his preneed for his funeral and disposition. You can help him open a POD account and make sure the funeral home gets paid by making them the beneficiary of the POD account. That way, the funeral director still gets paid but the money is secured in case they bail out of the business. That way, they can't take off with his money. How are you secure your pre-need is you still pay on your funeral policy see that you get through the funeral home but you put other money into the POD to pay the difference on whatever the policy won't cover if there's not enough money paid in. I don't know if your dad still drives or not, but perhaps it may be time to get him some transportation if he can still drive. If not, then he needs to arrange for other transportation so he's not always stuck in the house. 

 One more thing I can think of is to take the checkbook and have the bank destroy it or at very least lock it up in a bank safety deposit box so he can't write no checks. This will make it harder to get any money. You may want to teach him how to enjoy his savings without wasting it and you may also want to teach him how to go digital and just keep his money in the bank. Another thing I'm thinking is you actually say you're not interested in his money, but to be honest with you, he probably doesn't know that, especially these days in age where money is very tempting especially large amounts of it. Your dad is definitely not stupid and he knows how long it took to save what he saved to get to the financial stability he has now and he's probably smart enough not to let anyone jeopardize that and he's probably not taking no chances, good for him!

Thank you for all of your suggestions/comments. We do not know where the money has gone, can't get an answer from dad - he's either lying, confused or just doesn't want to tell us. After talking to him and the bank, we put his money into another account and he will receive an allowance. We are also discussing moving him to a senior home where he will have people to talk to and people to keep an eye on him as well as drive him to stores, etc. Thanks again for all of your help. Happy Holidays.

Most banks have a limit on how much cash can be withdrawn in a 24-hour period. Speak to the bank manager on adjusting this to the lowest amount possible. I am in no way attempting to be rude, but is there a casino nearby?

Someone here mentioned a 30 day CD. I've never heard of a 30 day CD, but I have heard of one where you leave your money in it for at least a year. I only had one CD for a very short time years ago at another bank where I used to bank before they moved. The CD I had drew a considerable amount of interest over the period of about a year and I think if I recall right it would go up. I didn't get too far before a car came along during my college time and it was a matter of having no other choice because I was about to flunk my quarter because being on someone else's schedule and being quickly taken after class was hurting me in the classroom. I had to cash out my CD and get the first running car I could find for the money I head against my better judgment but I had no other choice. I would have liked to have kept my CD and drawn interest, I probably would've been well off by now.

I don't know about these money markets, but be very careful where you invest money, it's a huge risk out there especially when you have your life savings or even limited income and you can't easily replace that money when it's gone. I think the CD is about your safest bet if you're going to put it anywhere. The able account is also a very good bet. One thing the able account allows you to do is invest money but you don't have to if you can't afford to lose money.

I never thought of this, but thankfully someone else thought of asking to see whether or not there's a casino nearby. Yes, people can lose an awful lot of money gambling. I'm also glad someone mentioned seeing if the bank can lower the withdrawal amount. These days it's actually safer not to carry cash. There's no need to even see the cash no more and it's more than just convenience, it's actual financial protectionism. Keeping all of your money in the bank is actually much safer than carrying cash. I think I also remember someone mentioning, what if this elder is secretly giving someone money and maybe they're too ashamed and embarrassed to say what happened, especially if they happen to have lost in gambling or maybe they were scammed? These are some very serious questions to ask yourself after reviewing everything we had to say on here. There are so many possibilities and so many things to consider but definitely take into account what I was suggesting about elder financial abuse. I'm actually dealing with that very issue right now. The law is definitely on my side in my particular type of matter, especially in light of the way things happened with the set of circumstances.

Somethings come to mind about your dad not answering your questions. I think there's a strong possibility that the reason why your dad won't answer your questions about his money is because he may be hiding his money somewhere and he just doesn't want you to find it in light of the fact you're his POA. That's because too many times someone who has charge of someone else's money ends up taking advantage of them. I know since it happened to my bio dad with Alzheimer's. I know that in your particular case, once the money is gone, it can't easily be replaced without legal help to go after fraudsters but only after you've gathered proof such as actual records. If your dad was defrauded, make sure you have actual records of where that money went because if you go to get a lawyer, you're going to need actual records to prove it. I'm telling you from experience because of the situation that unexpectedly fell into my lap after my dad died. Some serious digging not only uncovered elder financial abuse but also a other stuff I had no knowledge of such as when I was supposed to have been alerted to my dad's death but I never was. It took the life insurance company to finally find me and bring my dad's death to my attention. All these years I never knew my dad was even alive when I thought he died long ago, I was definitely shocked and also very puzzled. I was definitely overwhelmed having to handle this type of situation for the very first time. Please know that I was also very nervous and also very upset that the check just wasn't coming, only to find out there was another claim on my dad's life insurance policy. This eventually turned out to be someone having took advantage of my dad's money. In Ohio, POA is not allowed to use their powers to benefit themselves and I suspect the possibility that maybe, neither are guardians allowed to do this either. My dad never had a guardian but all too often, people who are in position over others often end up stealing from them. I know this for a fact because many years ago I lived in a private group home and overheard the house parent on the phone telling someone she owed one of the down syndromes thousands of dollars. She had custody of these down syndromes but I didn't know she was secretly taking advantage of them as well as the physical abuse I already knew about. I'm just glad God worked through me to expose the problem and get the girls removed from the home and hopefully to a safer place. I saw one of them years later only to find out there was a group home that was having awful problems with her and I was able to let one of the people know why they were having this one particular issue. I told her what I saw and I also told her about my own survival of physical abuse and that I recognize what was going on and I even saw it in action being done again someone else. This particular person was able to get the message back to the group home and hopefully they were able to resolve the problem they were having with this down syndrome who was showing post abuse signs. I should've known there was also financial abuse secretly going on in this particular group home, but I didn't know until I overheard a phone conversation of the house parent admitting to it. I hope you're able to resolve the issue with your dad and save what's left of his savings and hopefully even recover any lost or hidden money and I hope you're able to help him have a good stable financial future

One more thing I thought of is are you sure your dad is not helping someone who's legitimately needy? I don't know if anyone in your family is hurting financially, but maybe he should be thinking first of his own family and their needs before shelling out for someone outside the family. I understand if someone out there he may be helping may not even have a family and desperately needs help getting back on their feet, I clearly understand that. Perhaps he may have 'adopted' someone who really needs his help and he may have taken them under his wing, I clearly understand if this may have been the case. People have also taken me under their wing different times throughout my life and I cherish those people who were like family to me