Man convicted of crimes for power of attorney abuse

A recent verdict in a case outside of Florida points out the importance of choosing well the person or entity that will have power of attorney over your affairs if you are ever unable to discharge those duties on your own. The verdict in the criminal case hinged on a terrible example of power of attorney abuse.

The man who was found guilty of felony counts of forgery and theft had victimized his own mother, over whom he had power of attorney.

Florida "power of attorney" lawyers noted that the court in this non-Florida case found that the man had committed identity theft by opening two credit card accounts in his mother's name. He did so after he had been granted power of attorney over his mother.

The man was also convicted on theft counts that were related to money he got from his sister. The money was given to the man to build an addition onto his home where the mother could live. Instead, the man spent the money elsewhere.

The prosecutors accused the man of spending his mother's money as if it were his own, and spending it profligately.

The mother had to move from her nursing home to a facility for indigent patients when her son stopped paying for her care.

Though the man was found guilty on many charges, a few were dropped. These included theft related to checks that he wrote to himself and others from his mother's account for expenses unrelated to her care. Though dishonest, these actions were technically permitted by the power of attorney.

Source: Daily Local News "Jury splits verdict in theft case from mom" Sept. 3, 2011