Dale Chrisman testified he moved in with his mother last October. He said he did not pay room and board, adding, “but I buy food and don’t expect anything back.”

Questioned about checks written on his mother’s account, Dale Chrisman said his mother “pays for all her own groceries and supplies.”

Charles Chrisman said he is not permitted to see his mother or talk to her on the telephone. If allowed to, he said he would care for his mother in his own home.

He acknowledged that his mother was a defendant in a lawsuit that he had filed several years ago, but said the lawsuit was against Dale Chrisman to recover some farm machinery that he owned.

“Dale had taken it and moved it on to her property, and the lawyer added her name,” he said. “But I didn’t sue my mother.”

He also acknowledged he owed his mother $6,000 because she had paid publishing costs of a book he had written.

Spradling said the charges for Dorothy Chrisman’s care amounted to “financial exploitation” and said $1,750 per month would be a more reasonable fee.

“Especially since she’s paying for everything,” he said.

Dumm presented to the court documents showing charges by Joplin firms providing 24-hour care by a live-in attendant could range from $170 to $342 per day.

Mouton acknowledged Charles Chrisman’s offer to care for his mother. But, he noted the two had been on opposite sides of a lawsuit, and that Larry Chrisman had been named guardian and conservator.

“These expenses seem high, but in-home care is expensive,” he said. “I believe it’s in this lady’s best interests to continue to reside in her own home.”

$1,000 limit

Judge Mouton reminded Larry Chrisman that expenditures of more than $1,000 must be approved by the court in advance; but then approved about $48,500 in expenditures from the ward’s account, including the payments to LD Home Care LLC.