Baseline- Elderly people spending patterns

To better appreciate the harm done by the daughter Sonya, to her mother Carol, you need to look at Carol's spending patterns prior to her daughter gaining power of attorney and the ability to use her mother like an ATM. Now this is just one account, this does not show the credit card account that Carol had, and had used for Christmas gifts and spending. No, this just shows some basic spending, so we will take a deep dive and look at how Carol and her husband Gene used the account.

 

The account in December begins with $40,170.41. There are 2 deposits, these are from Carol's teacher's pension and disbursements from the couple's Pershing Brokerage account. The deposits total $3600.17. There are 12 withdrawals, one for a television dish and a few premiums, including Medicare. Because this is an older generation, Carol being in her early 70s and Gene in his late 60s, they are check writers. Checks #2369 and #2376 are over $5K and I will assume this is for their housing. Gene and Carol were diabetics, Gene being worse off being a double amputee, so he was in need of greater care. Knowing how much was paid for Carol's later care in the DC area, $5K a month for 2 people with serious health care needs seems like a bargain.

Almost a year prior to this, Carol and Gene sold their home (her home, she shared it with her 1st husband and their children Mike & Sonya). It is unknown how much was still owed on the house, given American's habits to refinance and take cash, every few years, tapping the equity. At the best they might have had $500K somewhere from the sale, but more than likely they may have had $400K, that was placed in several accounts, including the Pershing brokerage account that provided about $700 a month in income.

Compared to later bank statements that I will explore later in this blog, the account is lightly active. Things come in, things go out. There are no grocery, clothing, or restaurant expenses for the debit card. I will assume those were done via the credit card, which have statements, I cannot locate at this time. The majority of the activity is by check and without copies of the cancelled checks, and those cost something like $.25 a pop from the bank, I can only assume what they may be for.