I started cleaning for a man and his wife in 2019. His wife was dying and he wasn’t in good health their house was so big I asked if I could bring my daughter to help and I would pay her out the money I made. They lives 40 minutes each way they had a ranch hand but he wasn’t doing anything but stealing from him as all of his family was they were never around unless they needed money. He had bed bugs his daughter did get someone out there he had a horrible case of mice he wouldn’t call an exterminator I called his only daughter that took him to the doctor when needed she said she didn’t give a f@&$ so did I we a year we dealt with that. He tried having me be his POA over everything I refused but my son also helped and my son and him were close we were the only ones that would do things for him that needed to be done. He was angry with his family he drew up papers for my son to be his POA over everything and has a will made he never has another will he left everything to my son the man’s grandson stole 1/2 million dollars in cattle and much more he have and gave he would even give to ex wife they never invited him to family functions when the daughter that was sometimes there found out it was because we found him almost dead she has been there 2 days before me she knew he was dying a blind person would have known they are now trying to get us for financial exploitation because he was spending a lot of money fixing things to get his ranch running he had thought these things were fixed but as things started getting fixed the money was stolen they never fixed anything. She went and got conservatorship and has lied about so many things she had to keep him away from us so she could tell him we went and tore his house up which it was them he wanted to talk to us but she wouldn’t let him see when he was in the hospital that we took him too it stated in his medical records he wasn’t in his right mind she had herself added to his POA medical and assets but he didn’t want to add her to his assets he had given all of his kids hundreds of thousands of dollars . We didn’t and don’t want his stuff now we face jail or prison because we did what he wanted but we can’t afford an attorney does anyone have advice
Yes, everything should have been kept professional. You go in and clean and leave. You could have called Adult Protection Services if he needed help. It sounds likevme he was not capable to run a ranch.
You certainly do need a lawyer. And a criminal attorney would be my advice. If you still have any money this man has given you, I would consider not spending it, because if you have done something illegal, part of any plea deal you might get offered may very well be contingent on your being able to return the bulk of this man's money/property that he "gave" you.
Imo if son acted as POA and there were things sold or exchanged while he was POA, and he (your son) made any $ directly from this and without doing all the lil niceties of financial transactions, like his dealing with tax implications for the old man and himself, doing a P&L on cattle sale, showing why the transaction were not personal gain, etc. well imho Sonny will end up needing both.
Side bar: on that whole $1/2M of cattle “stolen” by the man’s grandson, well it wasn’t cattle rustling happening, someone took the cows either for auction or to slaughter on a contract. Beef cattle raising isn’t cheap or easy; hard profitability unless it’s a huge operation and you are doing specialty breed, like Santa Gertudis. We had a sm ranch by TX standards when I was growing up and I have friends who even now have ranches. & ranches measured in sections not acreage. To me based on my experience, really hard to make $ raising cattle for beef (dairy different type of cattle raising). A cow maybe can get 3K at best AND cost over that $ if not even more over time to raise till slaughter. If ranchmanager or his grandson sold entire lot, it could make sense to do if the ranch - due to the old man’s age or cognition or once the old man died - wasn’t able to stay operational. Due to costs, getting paid $.5M could still have operations of the ranch at a loss. Independent cattle ranches better have a legacy land & breeding operation, lush natural grazing areas (lol) or able to buy addl grazing rights with secondary income coming in, like mineral rights, to have it be profitable.
Really start calling around to find attorneys.
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If I understand it, you have been working to clean house for this gentleman (who had a wife in the first sentence) for five years. You subcontracted to your daughter to help which is of no relevance.
There is also a ranchhand who is unhelpful and/or criminal per you. There are considerable assets involved in that half a million of cattle was “stolen “ by this ranch hand or someone else, and kids got “hundreds of thousands” of dollars.
At some point the client wanted to name you POA but you declined, which was an excellent choice.
Now the mystery: Somehow your son is also involved, and at some point the client made out POA and will naming your son. Now client’s daughter has been named his conservator (by a court).
Some critical missing pieces that you’ll need to convey to an attorney when you meet:
-What happened to the wife?
-How did your son get involved? Has he been showing up on a volunteer basis on his own to help the client out? Honestly it will seem dubious to be out of the purity of his heart if this is a large investment of time. Or is his role helping you out, like your daughter, and you pay him?
-Is the client still alive? I think so.
-and the most important part: If still alive, then why is there even a question of financial abuse? The will hasn’t been executed yet, so your son didn’t get anything from that. Did your son *use* the power of attorney in some way, Particularly in a way that advantaged him or your family? Or was there some other financial transaction or gift that you haven’t mentioned above? So far I don’t actually see why they would be an issue at all.
-It seems to be an issue with the money spent on “fixing “things. Why would that come back to haunt you? If the people hired to fix things aren’t actually fixing them, they are the ones stealing not you.
I agree that you need to find the money to hire an attorney.
Yeah, your son is definitely outside the law for POAs and he seriously needs someone well versed in the law to represent him, as do all of you.
This should be a precautionary story for anyone that reads it. Stay out of family matters when a household employee, do not accept any assignment of POA and DO NOT accept houses, estates or money beyond your pay. It looks like, and often is, financial exploitation of a vulnerable senior. As POA you are a legal representative that makes you even more responsible for appropriate actions.
Good luck finding a great attorney to help get y'all out of this mess you created.