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elderly person responsibility?

deerhntrdeerhntr Member Posts: 1,853 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited February 2004 in General Discussion
Got a bad situation going on with a close friend of the family,
Here is the deal there is a brother and sister with an elderly
and sick mother to take care of,she is going back and fourth to the hospital with health problems and they are fighting over who is responsible for her well being as it turns out the brother has
all the mothers money "in trust" for her and moved several hours away
from the sister that is left to take care of the mother, My question is he responsible for her well being like sighning her in and out of hospitals and deciding her fate in a crises because he holds all her finances in trust? By law who is held liable for her well being
even if she is of sound mind and refuses medical attention. Does anyone know any legal info on taking care of elderly parents?
this whole thing stinks, and i have no answers for her.

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Comments

  • MFIMFI Member Posts: 7,899 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Ive got a similar situation here . Does someone have the power of attorney and does the elderly person have the right mind to make some decisions on this ? We are presently taking care of my grndmother here at the house. My old man has the POA and is overseeing her care. Its a tough thing to go through watching people get old. SHe is 97.

    God gave us all a gift. Have you found yours yet ?
  • beantolebeantole Member Posts: 1,086 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    MFI is correct. The elderly person needs to sign BOTH a durable health care Power of Attorney AND a durable Property Power of Attorney. That money being "held in trust" will likely disappear if this is a typical case. If she signs a POA it needs to specify that it takes effect IMMEDIATELY, not when she is incapacitated. The person she gives the power to should be someone she trusts 100%, live near her, and be younger than her. Typical cost of a properly prepared POA is $125-$150. per document. I go to nursing homes all the time to have people there sign them when they cannot come to my office. Leaving things as they are now is a recipe for disaster. She should have a will also.

    Bruce
  • nordnord Member Posts: 6,106
    edited November -1
    Sad situation...

    If the funds are in trust, then there are two types that I'm aware of. First is a revocable trust, the other is irrevocable. Under the first it may be possible to revoke trusteeship. It's also a fair bet that this type of trust will be responsible for the payment of your neighbor's debts and the son will be forced to pay up.

    Under the second, I doubt it's possible... Especially if the trust has been in force for over three years. This type of trust truly divests one's assets into another entity. Once divested, one becomes a pauper in the eyes of the state.

    Depending on how the trust was set up there are likely assets owned by the trust. Since neither of us has an idea of what's really happened, let's assume an irrevocable trust that's been in effect for over three years.

    No matter your opinion on the morality of the issue, the sole intention of such is to protect assets. If your neighbor signed her house, savings, car, and investments into the trust, then she has nothing. Her retirement funds can't be attached and her bills will be covered by one form of government assistance or another.

    On the other hand it might be possible that she only partially signed over her assets. Perhaps not her home and maybe not a savings account or two. In that case her home might be attached so that monies spent on her behalf can be recovered at the time of sale. Same is true about savings accounts... They might well be drained rapidly.

    In neither case will the son or daughter be held liable for her expenses. In the end it may matter very little anyway as costs are so high that even a wealthy person would be drained in short order and forced to rely on government assistance.

    I share this information with the caveat that I'm not a lawyer and I'm not issuing a legal opinion. I, however, do have experience in the matter as my departed father was protected by a trust as am I.

    Nord
  • beantolebeantole Member Posts: 1,086 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    nord: Good discussion by you but I don't think deerhntr is talking about a legal trust but rather just the son's word that he has the money in trust. That means he can blow all the money anytime he wants.

    Bruce
  • nordnord Member Posts: 6,106
    edited November -1
    Boy, do you have that right!

    Nord
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