My mother 87 yrs old and a Swiss citizen lives in Namibia and displays clear signs of dementia. My brother has moved into her house and cooks for her on a daily basis, he has also convinced her to give him POA of her Postal account and he has withdrawn $ 35000 in 6 months. He refuses to account for the money and says hes done so for his mother. A MMSE by a GP reported that all is fine with her even though the practitioner prompted my mother for every needed answer...My brother has also opened a bank account for/with her and we now fear that she will transfer large amounts of money from Switzerland to her account in Namibia. He has now hired opposing counsel and we know that mother has no clue what this is all about. Mother now refuses to see me and my sister, has cut ties with her brother in Germany and denies that she has given my brother proxy signature for her account. According to a Postal bank manager's interview with my mother reported to us that she is aware of the POA and that she's comfortable with the arrangement. Our attorneys seem to try at every corner to convince us that our mother may not have a problem at all and that legal remedies will be hard to come by. We are frustrated and angry beyond belief that even the bank in Switzerland sees no reason to act. The entire estate is in jeopardy incl. real estate in Namibia... Helpless and frustrated in Switzerland
I have no idea what typical living and care expenses might be. Is $35K over six months definitely excessive? How big is the house, how much is its upkeep, what has your mother's typical spending pattern been over, say, the last ten years?
If your brother wanted to save trouble, he would provide accounts, I agree. But on its own the fact that he has taken offence at your demand for transparency and refused to play ball does not mean that he has misappropriated or misused the money, and more particularly so since you don't have an automatic right to information about your mother's finances - not unless she gave you that authority or you have clear evidence of abuse.
Just curious, going back a bit. How do you know that the GP prompted your mother?
And more to the point, what do you propose for your mother's care? Are you volunteering?
I can understand that you are frustrated. But how are you helpless? Get on a plane, go and apologise, and start again.
My brother was at the GP office with my mother and reported to me that she was prompted with the answers...He had also agreed at an attorney's office to file for a curator bonis. So why the change of mind now?
If your mother can hire a cleaning lady, I'm sure she can also hire a cook. Isn't it possible that she is more anxious to keep her son close by, especially if he has always been a worry to her?
In any case, I am very glad to hear that you and your sister are going out there to investigate, and hope that it results in better, safer arrangements for everyone. Best of luck, please let us know how you get on.
He has no curatorship/guardianship and if he has received account proxy signature under false pretense from my mother that surely will be questionable. Namibian Postal account manager have voiced concerns about the heavy withdrawal of money since last August, completely out of the ordinary. She had 1 million Namibia $ in a fixed income account and had gotten almost 6000 a month in interest; now that account has been depleted to N$650'000 and interest payments have declined accordingly...and my brother doesn't want to tell us what's happening? That surely does not sound right.