My mother, who has dementia, is currently in a memory care facility. I am her only daughter and had been managing her care and finances as her Power of Attorney until the court suspended my authority based on harmful, untrue statements made during an emergency hearing. Her sister, with whom we’ve had no contact over the past few years, fabricated lies, defamed me, and manipulated the court to gain guardianship—despite the fact that I have always acted in my mother’s best interest. Last year, after my mother eloped from her home and ended up staying with her own mother (my grandmother), the family pressured me relentlessly to take over her care and gave me a strict March 1st deadline. I moved quickly to secure a safe and appropriate facility for her, believing I was doing what was best. But once she was settled and protected, her sister—who has long had a strained and toxic relationship with my mother—retaliated by filing for guardianship. Since it was granted, the sale of my mother’s co-owned home, which was supposed to fund her care, has been stalled, and I now have no visibility into or control over her wellbeing or finances. The truth is, her sister does not care about my mother’s health or safety—she’s a known thief and is after the money from the house sale. She is only interested in the proceeds, not in my mother’s welfare. Most heartbreaking of all, on April 17, my mother was taken from the facility by family members and returned on April 22. When I visited her with my daughter, she tearfully confided that her sister had physically and verbally assaulted her—pushing, kicking, punching her in her private area, and screaming at her. She said she doesn’t like her sister and never wants to see her again. And now, this same sister is blocking me—her only child—from seeing my mother. I wasn’t even allowed to visit her on Mother’s Day. What kind of heartless criminal does something like this? I have reported this to Adult Protective Services, spoken to the facility’s management, contacted attorneys, filed a report with the state, Elder affairs and even reached out to the Ombudsman’s office—but no one has helped. I am being ignored, and my mother is suffering. I am desperately trying to step in and protect her.
