Some unbelievable family drama - MMR

[vanillacourage]

My great-aunt and great-uncle never had kids, and have alienated almost everyone else in the family.  The one person who has looked after them is my mom's cousin "Jane", who lives a long plane ride away but has consistently given up all her PTO to fly back and check in on them several times/year, help with big household projects, etc.

While Jane was here for Christmas, she insisted that my great-aunt ("GA") see a new doctor for a problem she's been having for a long time.  GA gets diagnosed with ovarian cancer and given 1-3 months to live.  Jane planned to come back in 2 weeks to help her make her final arrangements.

Jane comes back in town this week, and discovers that since the beginning of the month, $300-400k has been withdrawn from GA's accounts.  She asks her what is going on - and a neighbor comes over from next door (neighbor is a nurse, and we all thought she was so nice to check in on GA...) to say that GA switched power of attorney over to her and given her authority to set up a "trust" with the money.  GA accuses Jane of "stealing her jewels", and they say she has to leave or they're calling the cops.  The only person who has ever cared about them - they literally kicked her to the curb.  My mom had to come pick her up at the end of their driveway.  The neighbor has quit her job and as the executor, is living off the proceeds of the "trust", biding her time until the aunt dies.  OMG.

[Deleted]

OMG. I am so sorry. We have an eerily similar situation in my family now with my grandmother. There is no money involved and I don't want to go into a lot of detail, but it's unbelievable and heartbreaking for the only person who has ever cared for someone like that to be treated so brutally. I am so very sorry for Jane.

[ECB]

WOW. Just WOW. I'm speechless.

[mbcdefg]

Wow. What a pair of ingrates.

[rikki]

This is so sick and disgusting. I am so sorry for your cousin. It makes me ill that people are able to pry and profit off of the elderly.

[Deleted]

Wow. I can't believe this, poor Jane! How awful for her.

[chessie]

Holy shit balls!!

[Deleted]

That is horrible.

[vanillacourage]

Yeah - I talked to her last night on the phone and she kept going round and around, repeating the same fragments of the story over and over. My mom said she was just laying on the couch.

Jane has said that she's done taking care of them, but she doesn't want them to be victimized, so through her contacts (though not her personally) she's pursuing legal action to get their money back and hopefully set up a court-appointed executor who can hire the help they need. At that point they'll be lying in the bed they made for themselves.

[Pom]

What a low rent scam artist. Sorry.

[RandZB]

That is absolutely insane. What a lowlife piece of scum. I hope she gets what is coming to her. People really suck sometimes.

[aspentosh]

I can't believe people like that exist. Asshole.

[cjeanette]

This infuriates me. I hate when people take advantage of the elderly financially.

[greekypie]

Ho Lee Shit!!

[Deleted]

Yeah, I'd be contacting the county attorney's office to discuss an investigation of elder abuse. Even if cousin Jane wants to totally separate herself from them (which she deserves) I'd still want to make sure they weren't being taken advantage of.

It sounds like auntie might not be entirely mentally competent either.

[phunluvin82]

I'd be soooooo pissed! Poor Jane, after all she has done for them. My heart breaks for her to be treated like that when she was the only one who cared. I'm glad she still wants to pursue legal action against this neighbor though...she doesn't deserve to get away with that!

[Deleted]

Oh man that is awful, your poor aunt. I will say, unfortunately, that after my own family drama that Elder Services does nothing if they find the older person is in sound mind.

[fuddyduddy]

I am so sorry and angry on behalf of your family. We dealt with something similar with my grandfather and it was an absolute nightmare.

[takeonyou]

Jane can report the woman to social services. They can point her in the right direction for elder issues. My mom is a case worker in PA and she has trials every single week against people like the neighbor. I really hope that woman has to pay it all back and rots for taking advantage like that.

[Kore]

Holy shit

[goaskalice]

People who take advantage of the elderly make me so angry! I really hope Jane is able to get some kind of resolution, but I know the odds are stacked against her. Good luck to her!

[wanderlustmom]

That breaks my heart.

[Deleted]

We had a similar situation in my family...my great aunt had a brain tumor and was totally taken advantage of by a man in his 40s...He ended up with all her money and most of the stuff in her house. It was insane but the family was unable to get anything legally done about it. Disgusting.

[Deleted]

Disgusting. I would recommend that cousin call elder services and see what recourse cousin has.

[Deleted]

That's so heartbreaking and frustrating. Hope the neighbor gets what they deserve

[starlily]

Jan 30, 2013 10:45:43 GMT -5 @idaholakelady said:

Yeah, I'd be contacting the county attorney's office to discuss an investigation of elder abuse. Even if cousin Jane wants to totally separate herself from them (which she deserves) I'd still want to make sure they weren't being taken advantage of.

It sounds like auntie might not be entirely mentally competent either.

Ditto.

Most elder abuse cases relate to financial scams. People are horrible.

[Deleted]

I would have Jane hire an attorney ASAP. If GA was not competent mentally she should have never been allowed to sign over for another PofA. Poor Jane, this is terrible and bad karma to the chick who is stealing the money. There are so many greedy people out there. I bet the lawyer who drew up the new PoA knows the bad next door neighbor chick. I would hire a PI. 

[Marmee]

That sucks!!! I'm so sorry. I've seen this a few times in my/DH family. So much money has gone to "friends" who slip in.

[imojoebunny]

People who do that suck. I agree with the attorney, this is elder abuse in many cases.

[WOT?*]

Jan 30, 2013 11:05:32 GMT -5 takeonyou said:

Jane can report the woman to social services. They can point her in the right direction for elder issues. My mom is a case worker in PA and she has trials every single week against people like the neighbor. I really hope that woman has to pay it all back and rots for taking advantage like that.

This.  Her state should have a department that deals with elder abuse issues.  Call them.  They deal with predators like this all.the.time.  Even if your aunt *seems* to be of sound mind, she's elderly, she's terminal and she's an easy victim.


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