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Didi12 Asked September 2020

Sister wiped out mother’s money while she was alive & living with me as caregiver. Is that legal? Her name on account only to pay bills.

Sister had mom's pension put into a secret saving account for 10 years, she didn’t pay taxes on the family cottage allowing it to be foreclosed, because she said mom had no money. She cleaned out the account long before mom passed, while I took care of mother. Is this legal, estate is not closed yet. What can I do?

Didi12 Sep 2020
Thank you for reading, and replying.

sjplegacy Sep 2020
Did sister have financial POA for mom? If so, her responsibility is that of a fiduciary and to only make financial decisions in mom's best interset. Not paying taxes on the cottage would not be in mom's best interest unless she (mom) approved it. Misusing the money for sis's benefit would be illegal. If that's the case, sis may be responsible to pay it all back. If, purchance, you were the POA, that would be neglect on your part for letting the misuse occur.

If neither was the POA, you may still have a case. Regardless, contact a lawyer before settlement.
Didi12 Sep 2020
Thank you very much for your advice. No one had POA over my beautiful mother. Every time I asked checkbook Darlene for money To care for her, she said mom had none, she’s broke, I did get a 3 month statement from her bank showing her checking $11,000.00& savings, which mom did not know she had, at $45,000.00. Checkbook Darlene had all bank statements sent to her house. I took mom back to the bank about 7 months later to discover My mother’s had only $1,000.00 in checking, and less than $4,000.00 in savings. I took awesome care of her for 20 months before she passed. I cared for her thru the 7 stages of dementia,Incotiance, and a wheelchair. It was 24/7 care by myself. Her will stated all 4 daughters as co-representatives. That’s fine,But she needs to repay her estate for what she stole. Any suggestions.

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notgoodenough Sep 2020
I'm so sorry this is happening to you. The short answer is, I'm not sure there's anything you can do. Depending on how the accounts were set up, if both your sister's and your mother's names were on the account, she has full and legal access to the funds.
My best advice is to gather together whatever paperwork you can, and contact an attorney. If there was anything criminal about what happened, they can guide your next steps.
Good luck!

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