More $$ Drama

8/12 Signed papers for Cottages, placed deposits
8/14 Mom requested we cancel Cottages, preferred to move to smaller Groves apt for companionship
8/14 Check for $30 cleared account, overdrawing acct.
8/17 Confirmed Groves efficiency apt would be available for mid-late October
8/19 Mom’s SS check deposited $662
8/20 $500 withdrawn by mom
8/20 NSF fee waived (presumably @ Mom’s request)
8/26 Dad’s SS check deposited $1643
8/26 $900 withdrawn by mom
8/27 I discovered everything when I went to transfer $$. Tried to contact them but was only able to leave voice mails at home and on the cell.
8/28 Made contact with Christine Walther (social worker) to bring her up to date. I finally made contact with them, expecting them to be angry. Instead, they both seemed bewildered about what I was talking about and insisted they had not done anything wrong. Mom kept saying she simply took the money out of the account that was hers, the checking account I set up to deposit her envelope money in. I asked her to come by the next time she was in town and we would go to close her checking account, returning her to the cash envelope system so we could avoid this situation in the future. Called Christine Walther back to update.

8/29 Mom came in this afternoon. I asked her about how the $500 withdrawn on 8/20 was spent. She told me she had deposited $100 into her "debit card account" (the checking account we set up last winter for her). I asked about the other $400 and she said it was for things they had been putting off, but the only thing she could tell me was that they had gotten haircuts. When i pressed her, she seemed to get confused and shut down. We went to the bank. We closed her checking account and transferred the balance to the bill paying account that I control. I reminded her that she needed to function on the cash envelopes from here on out, and she seemed to understand. About 30 minutes later, she called me from the gas station. She was every upset that her debit card wasn't working. I reminded her that we had closed the account, and that she had told me she had enough cash for her envelopes (from all she had withdrawn on the 20th and 26th). She said that she had put $200 for gas into the debit account, and I reminded her that we had transferred that to the bill paying account, but that she had enough cash to go inside and buy a QuikTrip gas card if she preferred. She got frustrated and hung up.

Another part of the conversation (before heading to the bank) was re: the upcoming sale of their property and the realtor I have been working with. She was offended because he had referred to "junk" when talking about her property. She reiterated that she is convinced that "The Gift" is coming BEFORE they move into the Groves, and that it will allow them to fix up the trailer they are living in. I clarified with her that the property DOES need to be put on the market, and that selling it might make it possible to move them into a 1 bedroom unit instead of the efficiency apartment we are planning on (all that they can afford at the moment.) We came to an impasse again about the subject of the gift.

I will talk with an eldercare attorney this next week to investigate the possibility of gaining guardianship.