Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: POA not taking care of elderly person

You will have to file a court action to have the current POA removed. Whoever in the family (which can be more than 1) is willing to take responsibility can petition to be appointed as the legal guardian of the disabled person. You should also ask the court to order the POA to account for any assets he/she has converted to their own use. You definitely should retain an attorney to represent you, as this is a type of problem that requires specialized knowledge of the process and requirements. You can anticipate that it will cost $1000-2000, plus court costs.

Re: POA not taking care of elderly person

You need to petition the Circuit Court in your mother's county

for a guardianship. You and/or any other responsible

person can take on this duty. You will also need

to have the POA of the other person revoked and then,

if I were you, I would place all your mother's money

into a trust account that you and the new

guardians can access but which is not in your mother's

name (to avoid the possibility of the old PoA trying

to tap the funds). I have had banks give me a hard

time about this but if you lean on them they will eventually

come around.

Don't try to do this alone. You should use an

attorney familiar with the guardianship laws to help

you. The procedure is relatively straightforward

but if you don't do it right you run the risk of

violating your own duties as guardian (and there

are a number of duties you will need to be aware

of).

Best of luck to you. I recently had to have myself appointed

as guardian for my own mother so I know how difficult

this sort of thing is.