Alice

I just moved back to PA where I grew up, and where most of my family has always lived. My cousin has Power of Attorney for my uncle "Skip" but doesn t live there so my uncle is alone at 80. I knew from phone calls that Skip has dementia, but thought he was being well cared for.

My first day home I visited Skip and called my cousin to tell him the house needs an exterminator badly, and that the electric bill needed to be paid because they disconnected it while I was there. My cousin admitted that Skip s savings (almost a million dollars) are gone and made up some nonsense about how it was spent on Skip, but his monthly SSI covers the bills and he doesn t spend any money. I turned on his electric, got an exterminator, and I have things set up easier for him. I stop there every morning to prep his meals for the day, but I work and don t want him alone.

He doesn t want to leave his house, and I believe the state will supply a home health aid since he no longer can afford one. His son won t look into that, I think he doesn t want to draw attention to the finances. I m a single female and I don t feel comfortable reporting anybody. Any advice on how to bypass his POA and request a nurse? Is there anybody helpful I can get involved that will let me remain anonymous? I don t know what avenue to take.