co-signer.... power of attorney

[elflauta]

What is the name of your state? texas
what if my grandma doesn't understand what's going on? i also think my cousin has power of attorney over my grandma. but still we think she cannot just steal her ssa money from her account. it has been going on since 1993 after grandpa died. we never knew the cousin would do such a thing. i am the one who lives with my grandma, makes sure shes fed, medicated, and has company. i don't take a penny from her, but if the cousin didn't rip her off every month she'd save at least $600.00 a month. can't we as family members do anything to stop the abuse? i'm afraid the estate will be in trouble when she passes.

 

[Dandy Don]

Do you mean that grandma is just not mentally competent or does she suffer from a disease that affects her mentally, such as dementia or alzheimers? You need to be talking to an attorney who specializes in family law/elder care law/guardianship law to find out how you can apply for guardianship or conservatorship of your grandmother and have the legal authority to make financial and other decisions on her behalf and would also give you the power to revoke/cancel the power of attorney.

 

[elflauta]

mental incapacity or denial

well, i have shown her the statement, tried to explain that her bills amount to a third of her check. the rest is cashed out or written to pay her co-signers bills. the co-signer has the checkbook with her at all times, has tried to send the statements to her home (which i stopped). i have discovered that she has been stealing from my grandama for almost ten years. i never knew till i saw the statements this year. the co-signer and i are both grandchildren. i am outraged at this discovery. the account is always overdrawn and this is a waste of money as well as un-ethical i think.

 

[lwpat]

The easy way out is to have your grandmother open another bank account and have the direct deposit switched. If that doesn't work then you will need to go the guardian route.

 

[kikumaru]

I feel that you should go to Social Security, discuss this problem and they can advise you further, however, the bank might be able to change account numbers too.