Need lawyer in Dallas County

That specializes in Elder Care. I have a friend in Collin county whose Mother has dementia, but never assigned a POA to anyone. Plus she has a niece that lives with her that can write checks on her account. They suspect she is stealing money from her to buy illegal narcotics. The Mother lives in Dallas county which is why I'm looking for one there. My friend has no clue on how to proceed with this is why I'm looking for recommendations to pass on to him.

Hope fully "Uncle Zeek" Will respond. You cal also send him a PM! He is a lawyer and by reading a lot of his post seems to be a good one. Hope your friend get's some good legal advice.

First step might be to have your friend take Mom to a Doctor for a consult, without the niece. A Doctor's written opinion can carry a lot of weight in a courtroom.

This will go beyond a simple POA. She will have to be determined to be incompetent. You will have to go through a doctor, then there is a court procedure. Also, the location of the lawyer is not relevant. As long as they are local and your friend can get face time with both the lawyer and the doctor they don't have to be in the same city or county.

She has to be determined to be incompetent and this can be done by a Dr or lawyer by asking questions and will only determine if is is able to to give POA. If she is found to be able to give authority for POA she can also remove it at any time. If she is found to be incompetent then a guardianship will have to be appointed and that will be done through the courts and will be costly. You could land contact the county department of aging to see if they have a list of Elder care lawyers or maybe the TX Bar Association.

Just ran across this thread. Yep. Ask the friend to email me at my address below and I can get him a couple referrals.

Depends on how her will is set up. It may be as simple as her signing a letter to resign her medical and durable power attorney and appointing someone else to hold that power. IF her will is set up properly, it's not complicated and it can be done without some huge cost through the courts. p.s. -how is the niece able to write checks? Does she have Durable Power of Attorney or has she been appointed a Trustee?

We use Scott Walker.

https://w-dlaw.com/

Sounds like the neice is a legal joint owner on the checking account. Hard to make a case she is "stealing" money if she is a joint owner. My Dad made me a joint owner of his accounts before he passed so as executor I could handle his debts without any extra filing. Works well in some cases.

The Mother has already been declared incompetent by a physician and has to have in home care during the day while the niece is working. Zeke, I will forward your email to them. Thanks.

If she has been declared incompetent then she cannot legally sign documents like a will, POA, DNR, advance directives, etc.