Q: My husband lives in assisted living facility and my sister in law has not paid any of his bills for the home nor had she paid pharmacy bills, etc. What can I do? She will not answer any phone calls from me nor the assisted living facility. (Pittsburgh, PA)

A: Call the Department of Aging and report Elder Abuse. You may want to see if the police can help. Neither agency may want to be involved as your sister in law is presumably in charge and it may take a court order for them to investigate her use of his funds. Although I would talk to these agencies, it may be necessary to involve a lawyer to file a petition for accounting which will force her to account for her use of his funds. If it turns out she stole money, criminal charges of theft and civil liability may be in her future.