My mother has been deemed incompetent from the court and I have long been her POA. My sister has been trying to convince her to move out of her assisted living to live with her with the idea of taking her house over after she passes. My sister has a long criminal record and the courts specifically stated she was not recommended to be POA during the incompetency hearing. They upheld my POA in the proceedings. My question is my sister is quite capable of asking my mother to visit from her assisted living to her home and not bringing her back with the idea of convincing her to live with her. Will I have any legal recourse if she does something crazy like that? Can I make my mother return to her assisted living as her financial POA?
I can't tell you how strongly I sympathise.
You want to be able to trust your sister. Your mother wants to be able to trust her daughter. Of course. You two are both normal, responsible adults with your priorities and your affections in good working order.
Alas and alas, your sister has demonstrated time and again that she cannot be entrusted with serious responsibilities for a vulnerable person's wellbeing. She may still be a very loving and caring individual! - but what she isn't able to do is see past her own impulses and emotions to the actual best interests of the person she loves and wants to be with.
I've no idea if you have any idea of why she's like this or what happened; but whatever's behind it, a) it's not your doing and not your fault; and b) her emotions are not yours to deal with.
Your lawyer knows and I don't, but my guess is that if you have guardianship you will be able to prevent your mother from leaving the ALF unless in the company of yourself or of other authorised persons. You would be able to permit your sister to visit her. If she attempts to leave with your mother, or if your mother attempts to leave alone to meet her round the corner, or if your mother becomes distressed by your sister's visits, you can impose further restrictions if you have to.
Work with the ALF in this. As long as they're kept informed and have clear instructions they should be a support to you. If your sister causes them an enormous amount of trouble they'll probably want you to do something about that, but you can cross that bridge if you come to it.
With sisters history, I would put in writing how outings are to be handled, ie mom can not leave before xxam and must be back by xxpm to ensure that her medications are not missed. That way there is no, I didn't know I couldn't take her for a week! Excuse.
I hope that your sister comes to her senses and just visits mom at facility and doesn't cause any drama.
It wouldn't be wise to prevent your sister from having any contact with your mother, because your mother has a right to continue her relationship with her child. But if your sister poses a threat to your mother's welfare, you have not only a right but a duty to prevent that - it's only a matter of how.
Ah. I see you have only financial POA. It may be you're going to need to apply for guardianship to have the right authority. Would that be a problem for you?