I have an elder aunt who recently had a debilitating stroke. Prior to the stroke, my aunt lived independently and her mind and memory were intact. She even drove. My aunt lived in a senior community which she rented an apartment. A cousin of mine is on the board of this senior community and helped my aunt obtain this apartment.
My aunt hated this new apartment and complained about it every day. The main reason was because it cost more and she is on a fixed income barely making it at poverty level. Her apartment hadn�t seen upgrades in decades and was not energy efficient.
Prior to the stroke, this cousin informed my aunt that this senior community required each resident to maintain a power of attorney (POA)for property and health care. At the time of the stroke, I was surprised that my aunt signed anything and even has a power of attorney for anything. My aunt was a habitual procrastinator and pinched her pennies consistently.
In fact, this cousin informed me twice verbally that she and her husband had lied to my aunt to get her to go to an attorney to have these power of attorney papers drafted then signed by informing my aunt �that it is the law�.
Prior to the stroke my cousin made the appointment to the attorney�s office, drove my aunt to the attorney�s office, and somehow this cousin become Power of attorney for both health care and property. My aunt never paid for these services despite being billed by the attorney, because my cousin took �care of this� being a board member of this senior community.
After research, there is no by-law in this senior community, or local or state laws which mandate a senior citizen to have power of attorney for either health care or property. Although I would agree it is preferable.
My aunt would never have signed these papers if she knew she was misled by the same person who placed her in this senior community for control. My cousin cannot and could not maintain impartiality when it came time to dispose of my aunts possessions. �Due to safety concerns� this cousin refused to provide the extra key (which we knew she had possession of) for myself, my sibling or my father and mother. We could not gain access and when we did my cousin advised us to �leave the door unlocked�? Now she withholds timely medical information from the immediate family and has already violated my aunt�s health care directive by artificially keeping her alive. We could not place my aunts assets for sale and no third party could come in to view any assets. My cousin had to control everything simply because she placed her at this facility which my aunt despised.
My question is this, are these POA contracts legal because they were signed built off a lie? If I pursue next steps to remove this cousin from POA what am I looking at in terms of proof and what is my probability of achieving?
