A woman who called into “The Ramsey Show” recently shared a shocking story about her in-laws, saying her 80-something-year-old mother-in-law had drained nearly $750,000 from a retirement account and given it to an internet scammer.
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“My father-in-law went to the hospital about a year ago,” the caller said. “He decided to go ahead and give my mother-in-law access to her retirement account, thinking that he didn’t have much longer. She drained that within about a week, giving it to some online scammer.”
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The caller said her in-laws had been married for 60 years and built up a nest egg of roughly $3.5 to $4 million. Her father-in-law had always managed the finances and kept them debt-free. But once his health started to decline, things unraveled.
The woman said the family later discovered that her mother-in-law had been giving money away for years. They believe she is involved in delusional, one-sided online relationships, calling it a possible mental illness. “She’s involved in a one-way romantic relationship with this person she’s never met,” the caller said. “She’s got multiple Facebook profiles, same picture, different name, doing the same thing all over the country.”
Despite being visited by the FBI and local police, the mother-in-law still believes her relationship is real.
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The caller expressed deep concern that her mother-in-law will blow through the rest of their joint assets after her father-in-law passes, potentially leaving the family on the hook for her care. “My husband and I—I’m in my late 40s, he’s in his mid-50s—we’re going to be debt-free in the next two years,” she said. “I don’t want to go into debt to take care of somebody else who… I don’t even like her like that.”
John Delony and Jade Warshaw, who hosted the show that day, advised the caller that she and her husband had no legal or moral obligation to rescue someone who continued to make reckless choices.
“There are times where you feel the need to swoop in… but those are choices,” Warshaw said. “It’s not your responsibility.”
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Delony recommended pursuing conservatorship through the courts, though he warned it would be difficult and possibly met with resistance. “You’re just throwing a Hail Mary pass, hoping somebody catches it,” he said. She’d have to prove she’s a harm to herself.
The caller said her husband had talked to his father about giving financial power of attorney to one of the sons, but they have no proof that anything was filed. She suspects embarrassment is stopping him. “I think there’s a part of him that’s very embarrassed about this,” she said. “We’re just finding out about this, and it’s been going on to a certain degree for 60 years.”
Delony emphasized the urgency. “Your husband and his brothers are faced with: Do we watch our mom burn her life to the ground, or do we go down swinging?”
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