Q: I have an elderly client who just found out her POA been paying themselves for services. She doesn’t remember them even agreeing to pay nor is it in her POA contract. They have paid themselves $20,000 over the last 8 1/2 months and two of the months she was in the nursing home/rehabilitation facility. Some checks say it was a stipend and the others say for a certain month rate of $35.00 an hour. I guess my question is should there have been an agreement on payment for services? Thanks. (Pittsburgh, PA)

A: Agent acting under a POA cannot take a fee for his or her services unless it is authorized in the POA document. Based on what you state, it sounds like this may be a case of elder abuse and the Agent is acting beyond the scope of their authority. Your options would be to question the Agent about these expenditures and demand an answer and if there is no explainable reason, report this to police and make an appointment with an experienced elder law attorney.

ELDER LAW, POWER OF ATTORNEY, AGENT, FEE, REASONABLE