I have a serious situation that I'm going to be facing soon. I befriended a woman (the sister of another?

friend). The woman was widowed at 36, and she became very depressed and ended up as an alcoholic. As a result, her siblings rejected her and she has been unable to work steadily due to her depression. She survives by reason of her family's having "old money" from oil, property, investments, etc. She put both of her children through college, she went through alcohol detox and has been sober since 2007. Because of her past drinking, however, she is the embarrassment of the family, and her children were also ashamed of her. Her daughter, in particular, has totally estranged herself from her mother. The daughter inherited a lot of precious jewelry and valuable items when the grandmother died, and she also thought she was entitled to a large monetary settlement. It was explained to her that the money from the grandparents went to her mother and the mother's siblings, not directly to grandchildren. Her comment was, "Oh, so my mother has to die before I get anything. Hmmm." During this past year, her mother has become quite ill (possibly terminal). She rewrote her will, paid off her son's final college debt and is preparing herself to die. She is 53 and the daughter is 28. The daughter hasn't seen her in eight months, and claims that her mother is only faking illness to get attention. My personal opinion is that the woman is dying of a broken heart. Her daughter found out that her mother has changed the terms of her will and some insurance policies that would have been p.o.d.'s, and she (the daughter) will not immediately get a huge amount of money. Since I am virtually the only person who is her mother's friend, she is now claiming that I have unduly influenced her mother, that I have secretly been skimming money out of her mother's accounts, and that I am taking advantage of her mother's "fragile mental state". She has put out the word to everyone that she is going to sue me for everything I have the minute her mother dies, and that she will "destroy me". I'm 75 years old, I'm physically disabled, I live on a fixed income, and I don't have access to any of her mother's money. Her mother keeps a large amount of cash in a safe in her closet as well as having bank accounts. Her daughter claims I am systematically stealing by begging the mother for loans. I have never done this, because it's not my money and I get by all right just as I am. I have no way to prove my innocence, and I hate to break off my friendship with this poor woman. How can I protect myself, besides hiring an attorney (which I'm going to have to do).