Dear Queenie,
When my father died he left my mother well-off enough to be financially independent if she is careful. However, I learnt that one of my sisters has borrowed quite a lot of money from Mom and although she promised to pay it back it seems she is doing so very slowly if at all.
I know my sister has problems, but Mom just doesn’t have enough money to fix them for her and I can’t afford to take care of either of them.
Queenie, how can I protect my mother from this kind of abuse?—Worried son
Dear Son,
If your mother is of sound mind she is not so much being abused as being taken advantage of. However, you are not wrong to be worried about this situation.
A family meeting might be in order to discuss how your mother’s money can best be used to take care of her needs first. Perhaps it would be a good idea to include a financial expert – an accountant or an attorney – in the discussion to act as advisor and mediator.
