A South Carolina woman has accused her late father's at-home nurse of manipulating him into signing over his house shortly before his death, then redecorating it within days of him passing. Nora Rowland says her 75-year-old father, Robert Rowland, who had Parkinson's disease and a brain injury, was not mentally capable of making such a decision when carer Sarah Smalls became his power of attorney and was later handed the deed to his Conway home. The case raises troubling questions about the exploitation of vulnerable elderly patients by carers entrusted with their wellbeing.

Robert Rowland died on 25 June 2024 while living in a senior care facility, but his daughter only learned of his death three days later when she travelled from Baltimore to check on him after he failed to make contact on Father's Day. On arriving, she found the locks changed, a new doorbell camera fitted, and the interior repainted bright orange with unfamiliar family photographs on display; Smalls, who had cared for Robert since March 2024 through agency Griswold Home Care, informed her of his death at the door. Police, shown a deed proving Smalls owned the property, handcuffed Nora and her partner after Smalls accused them of trespassing, while a neighbour told officers he had already raised concerns with senior services that Robert had been "not in his right mind" when Smalls began moving furniture out.