My mother recently remarried (in May) her previous husband, Les. (I know, it's complicated.) When I took my mom on a weekend trip in July, Les' daughter moved him into an assisted living facility. Since then, the daughter has obtained a poa and now has forbidden my mom from seeing her husband. I know that Les wants to see my mom, and of course,my mom wants to see him. Does my mom have any legal recourse?
But - the situation just gets worse. While our family went on a two day reunion trip in July, Les' children moved him into an assisted living center - to all of our astonishment. (We got a phone call from them on our way home.) Mom visited him daily after that, and they went to eat lunch together and/or back to their house. After several months of this, however, the daughter decided that mom couldn't take Les out. Then - in the past two weeks, she has forbidden my mom from even seeing him. I called the director, and he said that the daughter had Les declared incompetent - and she is now authority over all of his affairs. (None of his children ever visit him except to take him to church on Sunday.)
Part of me wants to just run - not even walk - away from this situation - and of course, drag my mom with me. But, I sincerely believe that mom and Les do love each other. Les' kids have virtually imprisoned him just to ensure my mom's eventual departure. I worry now that his children are convincing him that mom is choosing not to visit him - and will encourage him to file for divorce.
Les' kids have inherited a LOT of money from Les, and I don't want to get into a battle in court, because they literally have millions of dollars at their disposal. (Mom signed a prenuptial agreement, so she is not entitled to any of his money.)
But - I will at least call an attourney tomorrow and find out what it will cost to proceed.
Again - THANKS for all of your responses and support!!!!
I did call the assisted living facility, and the director said that the daughter has a poa and has had Les declared incompetent (whether by a doctor or court, I don't know.) The daughter has forbidden my mom from taking Les out to lunch or back to their house - and, just recently, has even banned my mom from even seeing him. The director said that is because when my mom comes to visit, Les becomes agitated when she leaves. He wants out of the facility, and on several occasions, they have caused a scene about his being able to leave.
As for the move into the facility - it did happen over one weekend. I guess the place must have had a room available, but his children moved him out of his home and into the assisted living facility during the two days we were gone.
Something else to consider is whether the stepfather is mentally competent to revoke a POA. If he isn't, the mother would have to take steps to be appointed as his legal conservator. That's a long and expensive process.
Apparently the move had been planned for some time -- you don't pick an ALF and waltz in the next day. So what is really going on here? Sounds like some major antagonizm.