Her SS check goes to her daughter in Arizona and she mails her a portion every month. She has lived with us for 7 years. Can we use her POA to get the address change? I am sure her daughter has the money deposited into an account. We have no way of getting this information. Sister refuses to give us information. What are our options?
We do not need the money but it's the principle, moral issue. The daughter has been pocketing the remainder of the check for 7 years. She starting sending 200.00 (SS Check over 800), then 400.00, then 600.00 now sending 300 and this month nothing. Thank you.
Social security will run an investigation on you. You will then have yearly forms to fill out as to what is happening with her SS check; you will need to keep careful records.
Even if your mother is mildly demented, she can appoint you as her POA for financial; it is only necessary that she understands exactly what she is doing when the lawyer speaks with her. If Mom is not competent then you may need to apply for guardianship.
THIS is your mother's money. She may someday need it. You cannot insure that she will always be with you and in your care. As was stated below, the use of these funds by the sister is endangering your mother's finances. You honestly need now to speak with an elder law attorney.
Good luck. Go to your local Social Security office. They will tell you exactly what you need.
You cannot use online as your mother has likely never signed up for My Social Security. You cannot do it FOR her; that would be fraud. So don't try that.
You can also explore with the lawyer setting up a trust account for Mom's funds, which you handle as her trustee; again, careful record keeping, and Mom needs to know this is being done.
Saying that, I would go to a SS office (I don't like using the phone) and ask what needs to be done to have Moms money transferred using her now address and bank acct and u becoming her payee. (I may ask if SIL shows as payee) I would have a doctors letter handy stating Mom is incompetent to handle her affairs and that her son/DIL are now her Caregivers. If u find sister is payee, you may want to mention she is abusing it by only sending you a small amount of money a month. Its against SS rules to not use SS on the person it is for.
I would not tell SIL what you are doing until its done. That means setting up a bank acct and making sure funds are going into it. Then call her and tell her what u did. I may ask SS if there is there a way of getting an accounting of how Moms SS has been spent by SIL since u have had her.
If u run up against a brick wall, you may want to consult wit a SS attorney.
https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-1696.pdf
Also, if you don't make any headway with what Alva suggested, I'd spend the money and consult with an elder law attorney who has experience with financial abuse/fraud and (depending on the outcome of that meeting) let the daughter know she may be the subject of an investigation.