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My 50 year old brother signed my elderly mothers name and used her social security number without her knowledge or permission
Anonymous7 views3 answers
four years ago to get dental work done. apparently he paid on the loan until 2009 when he defaulted. the creditors are now after my mother to get the money. can she bring charges against him? can he be made to pay the loan? is it possible he would go to jail over this? she never knew any of this until she received a letter asking her for the money......thanks for any answers, advice you could offer.....
Your mother should immediately contest this alleged debt with the creditor. Since she did not
actually sign off on the loan, she has a strong argument that she should not be liable for it. You may need some kind of an expert to prove that your Mom did not sign off on the loan and/or an admission by your brother that he signed your Mom's name. Your brother may try to defend any action against him by claiming that your mother consented to have him sign her name to the loan. That would not be very compelling in my view if your Mom is clear and strong that she did not consent to have him sign her name on the loan.
What your brother did was fraudulent. Forging his mother's name without her consent was clearly wrong. His dishonest act could constitute some kind of a theft, ex. theft by deception.
However, before you or your mother file charges against him, you should decide whether that is really something you want to pursue. There is another alternative. Your mother could sue him civilly and if she can prove her case against your brother, she would have a judgment against him which he would have to pay her. Restitution could also be ordered by
a judge if your brother were convicted of fraud or theft by deception against your Mom.
I am unclear if the dental work was done on your brother his mother. I assume it was done on your brother in answering this question.
You mother can bring both civil and criminal action under these facts. Very often, financial abuse of the elderly comes from a family member. She should also see an elder law attorney about nullifying the contracts because she was never an actual party.
NOTE: This is just general legal discussion and not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship has been established.
In addition to what others have said, your mother should communicate with the creditor about what has occurred. They will flag the account as fraudulent and oftentimes will conduct their own internal fraud review of the account.
