Urgent POA question

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dillmad

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What is the name of your state? PA
Background:
My mother is married to my step father for 14 years now. My two step sisters are my mother and step fathers real daughters, born out of wedlock in 1968.
When my mother and step father married 14 years ago, my mother moved into my step fathers house and for the last fourteen years they have bought many things together including vehicles and recreational equipment.

Everything was fine until three years ago when my step father contracted dimensia. My mother asked my one step sister who is a nurse to be co-poa since she felt it would be to much of a burden on herself if something should happen to my step father. My mother was taking care of him alone until a year ago when she asked my brother to move in and help with caring for him. At that point my two step sisters and two step brothers got p'd off at my mom and started telling her what to do. My mother ignored them. Three months ago my mother had to put my step father in a long term care facility because he is progressively getting worse and the doctors had recommended it.

Two weeks ago my mother, two step sisters and two step brothers were supposed to get together and discuss what was happening with my step father. When my other step sister arrived at my mothers house she lunged at her throat and my other step sister had to pull her away. She also threatened my mother saying if she had a gun she would kill her and my brother. My two step sisters and two step brothers continued to verbally attack my mother and brother and so my mother called the police and had them removed from the house.

Yesterday my brother received a notice for a court appearance that my step sister filed claiming he owns her $3300 in back rent for living with my mother at my step fathers house. She states that she is the landlord and has poa never giving him permission to live in her fathers house. She also included a letter that stated she will be coming down to the house to tally up all of my step fathers things and take pictures in and out of the house and if anything is missing my mother will be responsible. Also in this letter she threatened that if my mother doesn't kick my brother out that they will take care of him. This step sister went to the attorney who wrote the original poa and got a copy and sent it along with this threatening letter. She highlighted different parts indicating what she can do as having poa.

My mother contacted me last night because of this new court action. She brought all her paper work with her including the original POA and this copy my step sister sent. The original mentions my step sister (they spelled her name wrong in the document though) as having co-poa, but was never signed by her only by my mother. What she did was sign this copy she got and and dated it 5/22/06 and highlighted that before sending.

I thought that all signitures were supposed to be in front of the notary public and the notary seal applied.

I guess what I am asking is, is she legally co-poa. My mother wants to put a PFA against her, my other step sister, and two step brothers because of this threatening letter she received and also wants to counter sue on the $3300 she says my brother owes. She wants to change the poa and add me and remove my step sister.

Any help on this is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Too Many Issues

There are way too many legal issues to address for a forum like this. Your mom needs too get an attorney to deal with this as soon as possible

As a lay person though I don't understand how your half/step-sister can decide what goes on in your mother's house. She's still the wife and should have more legal standing than a daughter's POA, a coPAO at that. Who initiated the PAO the mother? If so she may be able to revoke it, it would seem. If it was the father than that's something a court would have to decide. It sounded like the PAO was initiated for medical reasons, so I am wondering how the house and all that got into it. Was the PAO for medical purposes or financial? Or both. Some PAOs are limited to one or the other. Who makes the house payments and whose income is used to make the house payments..if it's not your sister I don't know how she can call herself the landlord. That seems ridiculus to me. I am not a lawyer though and maybe your sister knows something about the law.

I agree your mother should counter sue because by being the wife it would seem she has rights to the property as long as the husband's alive and maybe even after depending on your state laws of property and a will. I hope for your mother's sake there's a will since he owned the property before marriage. You didn't state if the PAO is limited or what it states legally. Please have your mother consult an attorney about the PAO before things get even worse than they are. She may want to consider a restraining order against the others for their verbal threats. If it's in writing take that to the court as well.
 
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