Authorized Representative - Payment Not Received

[calysto999]

WA- I served as the authorized representative for a woman that refuses to pay a little over $30K that she owes me for services on a DOL claim. Per the DOL, I am able to claim a percentage of her final claim amount and sent her notification of the bill and the DOL also sent a letter. She is currently involved in overseas scams, her family is pursuing guardianship and her assets are frozen. Are there any other options for me besides suing her outright for the amount?

 

[Jeran]

WA- I served as the authorized representative for a woman that refuses to pay a little over $30K that she owes me for services on a DOL claim. Per the DOL, I am able to claim a percentage of her final claim amount and sent her notification of the bill and the DOL also sent a letter. She is currently involved in overseas scams, her family is pursuing guardianship and her assets are frozen. Are there any other options for me besides suing her outright for the amount?

If her family is pursuing guardianship, I assume for mental reasons, how will you prove that she was mentally competent when she agreed to pay you anything?

I would expect her family to fight you over this.

 

[calysto999]

If her family is pursuing guardianship, I assume for mental reasons, how will you prove that she was mentally competent when she agreed to pay you anything?

I would expect her family to fight you over this.

I am part of her family and also have power of attorney and ownership of bank accounts, however they are frozen because of the recent activity she was involved in. The claim process went on for over a year, at which time she signed multiple documents including naming me the auth. rep. Do you think a mediator would be able to move this forward?

 

[justalayman]

why would you have her money in your bank accounts (your claim of ownership of bank accounts) That sounds questionable, if not actually illegal, in itself.


What gives you a right to claim such payment from her? You sound like you may have acted as her attorney rather than acting in your capacity as a POA. They are two very different situations.

and if her money is frozen, you are SOL until they are released. That is the point of freezing her assets; nobody gets anything until their claim is decided.

as well, jeran's statement is very important. If the person is mentally incompetent, she could not enter into a binding contract. You may have no valid claim based on that alone.

 

[calysto999]

why would you have her money in your bank accounts (your claim of ownership of bank accounts) That sounds questionable, if not actually illegal, in itself.


What gives you a right to claim such payment from her? You sound like you may have acted as her attorney rather than acting in your capacity as a POA. They are two very different situations.

and if her money is frozen, you are SOL until they are released. That is the point of freezing her assets; nobody gets anything until their claim is decided.

as well, jeran's statement is very important. If the person is mentally incompetent, she could not enter into a binding contract. You may have no valid claim based on that alone.

I am a co-owner on her accounts along w. a sibling per her request years ago. Her money is in separate accounts, I do not have any of her funds in my accounts. I disagree, the DOL allows authorized representatives (as I mentioned below) to charge up to a max % of a claim, which is the charge I indicated of $30K. I did not and can not act as an attorney, but she signed me as an authorized representative and I followed the DOL rules for this position. If she is declared incompetent, her funds will go to a guardian under a ruling. HOWEVER, this claim was put forth over a year ago, I don't expect the incompetence thing to go back that far, she only recently was having problems w. dating sites and scammers. Maybe three or so months.

 

[justalayman]

calysto999;3162244]I am a co-owner on her accounts along w. a sibling per her request years ago. Her money is in separate accounts, I do not have any of her funds in my accounts

. Yet you said you had ownership of the accounts containing her frozen assets. Even being a co-owner would likely be considered a problem. There is no justification to be a co-owner. It would allow improper access to the funds and allow for an improper claim of the funds in the case of the principal's death.

I disagree, the DOL allows authorized representatives (as I mentioned below) to charge up to a max % of a claim, which is the charge I indicated of $30K. I did not and can not act as an attorney, but she signed me as an authorized representative and I followed the DOL rules for this position.

I asked you what gives you the right to make such a claim for payment. Since the DOL deals with a variety of issues and I could find nothing allowing such a payment to a non-attorney, I was simply looking for you to show where the DOL authorizes such a payment.

If she is declared incompetent, her funds will go to a guardian under a ruling. HOWEVER, this claim was put forth over a year ago, I don't expect the incompetence thing to go back that far, she only recently was having problems w. dating sites and scammers. Maybe three or so months.

incompetency does not simply sprout up overnight. If she had had problems supported by behavior that caused these problem 3 or so months ago, it is likely the incompetency had developed over a much longer time which brings her ability to contract into question.


regardless of all of that, since her accounts are frozen due to some legal issues, you either wait out the seizure or seek to have whatever you claim is owed released. You would have to make such a motion in the court that has authorized the seizure of the funds.