(Warning: Typos Intact, Not Legal Advice)

Do I need an attorney because DHS is trying to get my son and I with financial exploitation?

We worked for an elderly couple cleaning and things were fine while his 2nd wife was alive. She asked me when she died to watch out for Lynn because the only time his family came around was when they wanted money. His caretaker was his daughter but she didn’t take care of him she only showed up when she needed to write herself a check her son a check her daughter and Her mother Lynn’s ex-wife. A year or 2 ago he had papers drawn up for me to be his POA over everything and was excluding all of his children from his will. When my son turned 18 he wanted to get his ranch started again it was costing a lot of money he was aware of every check written where every dime was spent the bank even called to verify checks or when he needed to transfer money. He then had papers drawn up that my son was to be his POA over everything and gave him the original will. He got sick his daughter saw him but left him to die the ranch hand who stole thousands of dollars from him for years knew he was sick to and he was no longer doing his job but was being paid when we took him to the hospital we barely got him there in time we called his daughter she had no concerns until she found out he excluded her

Answer: To answer your first question: Do you need an attorney? The answer is absolutely yes. You cannot ignore these matters; you must deal with them immediately, forcefully, and thoroughly. Only an attorney will have the necessary skill and expertise to protect you against charges that, according to your narrative, are not well-founded.

In a situation like this, you are likely to be accused of using undue influence over the gentleman who provided the power of attorney and excluded his children from his will. Undue influence suggests that you overbore his will to obtain benefits for yourself. In cases like this, if someone is acting as a fiduciary for the person—meaning they are in a special position of trust and confidence with regard to the person—and then the person changes their estate plan to favor the fiduciary, the burden of proof is on the beneficiary to prove in court that there was no undue influence. This is very difficult to do.

If you were not the fiduciary, meaning you were not in a special position of trust and confidence, then the burden of proof would be on the family members to show that there was undue influence. Generally speaking, in these cases, the person with the burden of proof—the one who has to prove something—often loses.

In this case, since you were acting as his agent under a power of attorney, and then your son was acting as agent under a power of attorney, and you received the benefits from the changes in his estate plan, the burden of proof would be on you. This is not an impossible case, but it will undoubtedly be very difficult. That’s why you need to seek counsel immediately.