…a memory care facility in Arizona. You’ve been ‘moved’ there on paper. Your mail and your pension are being redirected.”
My attorney, Ms. Reyes, showed me the change-of-address form. It had been filed with the post office, my pension provider and Social Security. My daughter-in-law, Lauren, had signed it as my “authorized representative.” “After she’s gone” didn’t mean after I died. It meant after I’d “moved.”
“Once your mail goes to Arizona,” Ms. Reyes said, “you’d never see a bank statement again. They could open accounts, move money and sell your house, and you wouldn’t find out for months.”
The memory care facility in Arizona had no record of me. Lauren had simply used its address.
Ms. Reyes cancelled every change-of-address request that afternoon. She filed fraud reports with the post office, my pension and Social Security. She also put a notice on my property records.
I asked my son, Nathan, to meet me at her office. He hadn’t known about the address change. He’d known Lauren was “getting things organized” and had signed a few forms for her without reading them.
“You signed something that made your mother disappear on paper,” Ms. Reyes told him. He put his head in his hands.
Lauren was charged with mail fraud and identity theft. Nathan filed for divorce.
I’m still living in my own house, very much here. My grandson asked me last week if I’d ever been to Arizona. I told him no, but apparently I live there now. He laughed so hard he fell off his chair.
