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Re your post 103, your neighbor did not die a pauper because she had no children (though it is likely that a son or daughter could have advised her about scams...though a good friend could have played this role), she died without assets because she had extremely poor judgment.

I wasn't going to reply to this thread, because it was several days old(thanks NYer for the ping! Been on the live ME threads), but I wanted to respond to this. It is entirely possible that this woman had undiagnosed Alzheimer's and/or dementia. Something similar happened to my mother, and it was a nightmare getting anyone to do anything to protect her. Her "good friends" swapped out a hardly used vacuum cleaner for a broken down piece of crap, and the same with her coffee maker. The one that worked, was removed and replaced with a broken one. I have a laundry list of missing appliances. That's just the piddly crap. We then get to the unecessary home repairs, ordered by her "good friends", who just happened to "know someone". About 13,000 bucks worth. I went to the local police (I HATE them), and was told that since there was no official diagnosis, there was no crime. Mom was calling the police constantly, complaining that people were living in her attic and garage. HELLO???!!!

I'm an only child. My parents were old enough to be grandparents when I popped up. No one deserves to be treated like that. I couldn't clean up the mess thanks to the government that cares so deeply for all it's citizens. /sarc

Thank you for your most interesting and informative post. I, the OldPossum, whose post you quoted, had overlooked the possibility that the lady may have been suffering from some form of mental disease. It was wrong for me to assume that she must have simply poor judgment; that could be the case but I didn't take into account that the judgment might be the result of senility or something worse. Please forgive.

I was appalled to read about the unforgiveable things that were done to your mother. I hope that there is a special place in Hell for people who do something to a helpless person such as her. May God Bless Her. OP