UPDATE: Probate Questions and Mistreatment
Location: North Carolina, USA
Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/1t6kzkk/probate_questions_and_mistreatment/
Hey. I appreciate everyone who gave me advice on the original post. I want to say that things got better, but no.
IMPORTANT INFO: I (20F) am my Grandpa (73M)'s durable POA along with my Father (47M) and my Uncle (50M). My uncle lives out of state, and my dad is not that reliable. It was my Grandpa's wish for the POA to be this way; I didn't argue.
So my Grandpa (73M) has been in this rehab center since August of last year. He was discharged and then readmitted in September for a separate fall. He used up all of his medicare days in the first month. I tried to start the Medicaid process with the rehab facility, but it never got anywhere. I can't even remember why. I tried to let my parents handle it to no avail. In April of this year, I was tired of my parents trying and failing to get it done, so I did it myself. He was approved for Medicaid, and I was told that his check would be used for rent starting in June.
Today, at 10:38 a.m. on a Saturday, I received a call from the Business Office of the Rehab Center. I answered the call thinking it was about my Papa, as the nurses sometimes call me to ask me questions or something. The Business Manager told me that she was calling to collect May's payment as determined by the State. I was confused and said that he couldn't pay that amount, and that his payments were supposed to start in June. She made me repeat that he can't pay anything at the moment and said that she'd refer it to the discharge office, where they MAY involve Adult Protective Services for misappropriation of funds. She ended the call after that.
I was shocked and immediately started trying to get in touch with a lawyer, but again, it's Saturday and no one is open. I received another call from an unknown number (NOT the rehab center) that turned out to be another business admin at the rehab center. I immediately started recording the call, and she was surprised and did the same. (Android phones can record calls, it gives an announcement when the recording begins)
She sounded like she was reading from a script and said that she was "trying to collect payment for the month of May as determined by the State." I told her that he can't pay it right now, that the money for the month was spent on him directly. She kept saying things like "not for his housing as determined by the state?" a lot of "Determined by the State". When I began listing things the money was spent on (wheelchair, clothes, toothbrush), she interrupted me and said, "A toothbrush that cost $2,671?" I was taken aback by this and said that we needed to speak through lawyers at this point, as clearly some miscommunication is happening. She then changed her tone and was saying that, of course, we could, but I hung up the phone before she finished her sentence, as I was losing my cool.
I am stressed out of my mind. All of his money has been spent on him or things related to him. (by that I mean gas to go do business for him and food for that. He wants most of his end of life things done two hours away from where I live)
I love my Grandpa and I am so worried that something can go wrong here more than it already has. I have a document saying when his checks start going straight to his rent, and it says June. There isn't any money from before May because the social worker told us to spend it so he qualified for Medicaid. May's check went to his bills and clothes/food/things for him.
Can they actually do anything? Was the Business Office able to call me from a personal number? What can I do in between now and Monday? I work 10-5 but I can ask for the day off to go to places. I'm sorry for the bad formatting I'm just losing my mind here.