Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Greetings lawyers, and thanks for all your help and advice. I've written before about power of attorney and now I have another question. To cut to the chase, my uncle has power of attorney over my mom, and I believe he's abusing that privilege in numerous ways. The latest is that she's in a retirement home in Washington (he essentially "whisked" her away from the retirement home here locally) to have hip replacement surgery which was originally planned locally. Now that she's in Washington, he's prohibiting my sister and myself from calling mom. He insists that he and my aunt will call us when they go and visit. There's no phone in mom's room because he maintains that "we can't afford one" which sounds suspicious. He has plenty of money as do his brothers who are very well off, and he has driven down here from Washington a couple of times in the last 6 months. I think there's oppression going on here, and even elder abuse? Thanks again for your valuable advice and time you give to provide simple but needy answers.


Asked on 1/25/12, 1:17 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
George Shers Law Offices of Georges H. Shers

Power of attorney just means that he can sign documents and carry out acts that she is not physically capable of doing and that would be probably be approved by her. It is not a conservatorship that gives him control, via the court appointment, to run her life. If she is mentally unsound, the power of attorney disappears and he has to be appointed by the court yo take care of her. Write to her to find out what is really happening.

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Answered on 1/25/12, 3:08 pm


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