After my mom had a stroke, completing paperwork such as insurance forms became difficult for her. She agreed to give me power of attorney. We completed the paperwork with an attorney and distributed it to all of her account service providers (banks, insurance companies, brokerages, etc.). Every single company said they would not acknowledge me as the POA unless we also filled-out their own company-specific POA forms. First question: can they legally require that?
About eight months after her stroke, my mom fell and broke her hip. She did not recover well, and both her physical and mental capacity have diminished. She understood the POA forms originally, but I doubt she would understand them now. We changed my mom's medical insurance in the last open enrollment period, and the new insurer wants my mom to complete their company-specific POA forms. Should I sign these as my mom's POA? It seems ridiculous to sign a POA authorization as a POA. I am sure this is only the first of many times we will face this question as my mom's needs change. What is the proper way to handle this?
I was called this past week by a lawyer, informing me that my old business partner (from 2008) is suing me in civil court for a zillion dollars. He filed proof of service, but I never received anything, as papers were "left" at the front desk of a large building that I rent a desk in. He called me to ask why I haven't responded. Strange.
I asked him to email me the complaint and he did. I also paid for the proof of service. The suit is a joke. Its inflammatory, and flat out lies. Every one of the 10 points its total fabrication and nonsense.. but I'm in a corner here.
It appears that Im going to have to retain legal help even just to reply to this at the conference.. and this will cost me a LOT. I feel cornered in that I am going to be out anywhere from $3k to 25k just to prove that this yahoo is full of it. Even just to quash or get summary judgement or strike or anything... Im going to be out a lot of money.
Is there ANY WAY that I can get out of this quickly/cheaply? I did nothing wrong. A crazy person decided, 4 years later, to give me a hard time. He files, now Im going to suffer. It just doesnt seem right and Im sure there is something Im missing here. The few lawyers I called were friendly and helpful, but said there is no way of avoiding paying someone to help me, and I have little to no chance of even breaking even, let alone not losing my savings.
Worst of all is that the conference is coming up on the 22nd. I was just informed of this whole mess a few days ago. WHAT CAN I DO?
Im in CA and this is at the Los Angeles Superior court.
Thank you
