Mother has difficulty managing financial affairs

meerkat2007

First of all, I know this isn't the right place to post this message, but here is where I feel most comfortable, and I know you're all such a knowledgeable lot out there. And I apologise if this turns out to be a long post.

The situation is this: my mother (she lives with me) has been getting forgetful for a couple of years now, but over the last few months it has got worse, to the point where, although she functions pretty well most of the time, she occasionally does or says some really weird things. We are now on the GP's radar for this, and awaiting an appointment at the memory clinic.

The thing is, I tend to look after her finances for her. I own the house, have done for a long time, but the household bills have, in the main, been left in her name, mainly because we thought that my previously absolutely dire financial situation would have caused problems trying to pay by monthly direct debit, due to credit checks. My credit record is now virtually clean, so we are in the process of getting the household bills changed over to my name.

The major issue, though, is her bank account. I really need to take over managing this for her, but is there any way I can do this without having the account made into a joint account? I know I could go and ask the bank, but I don't want to open that can of worms without knowing what the options are - if indeed, there are any. I guess I just want to know what to expect.

Many thanks for any information anyone can give me.

Mods: apologies for putting this in the wrong place - please move it if you feel there is a better home for this question.

mooomin

As far as I am aware, your two options are:

* Making the bank account a joint account
* Seeing a solicitor about drawing up a Power of Attorney, this would allow you to run your mother's bank account without being liable for any debts etc. If you have been declared bankrupt etc in the past you may not be able to do this, but a solicitor will be able to advise you, and you will get plenty information from Google too!

Good luck with what sounds like a difficult situation, best wishes to you and your mum.

meerkat2007

Thank you for such an amazingly fast reply. Those were the two possibilities I had thought about, so thanks for the advice - very much appreciated.

I have never been declared bankrupt (I probably should have gone down that route back in 2001, but I couldn't lose the house), so the Power of Attorney may well be the best option.

Thank you again, and all the best for Christmas.

whatatwit

Hi Meerkat, as at some stage in the future your mum may require residential care, then do keep an eye on how much money she has.
I am not saying to move it all into your name, but do make sure that she pays half of the bills for the house.

Obviously, if she has very little money, then it is not an issue, but don't fall into the trap of you supporting her 100% and allowing any monies she has coming in to build up as this money will be used to pay for care if needed later on.

Hugs to you at this difficult time. :grouphug:

There are threads about this on the Silver Savers board.

meerkat2007

whatatwit wrote: »

Hi Meerkat, as at some stage in the future your mum may require residential care, then do keep an eye on how much money she has.
I am not saying to move it all into your name, but do make sure that she pays half of the bills for the house.

Obviously, if she has very little money, then it is not an issue, but don't fall into the trap of you supporting her 100% and allowing any monies she has coming in to build up as this money will be used to pay for care if needed later on.

Hugs to you at this difficult time. :grouphug:

There are threads about this on the Silver Savers board.

Your user name is definitely a misnomer!

My mother has no assets, apart from a small death benefit policy worth maybe a couple of thousand. Her bank account is in overdraft, and although this is not too large and is slowly decreasing in size, it's still not something I would wish to become liable for. She has a very small pension incomefrom my late father's superannuation in additon to the state pension, so it's doubtful that any significant sums of money would build up over time, once the overdraft is out of the way.

Besides, I would encourage her to spend her money on nice things for herself, as I know that in the past she has gone without treats.

whatatwit

Is she not entitled to claim Pension Credit or maybe she already is getting it.

Depending upon how the memory clinic goes, she may be allocated a social worker, this should help ensure that she is getting everything that she is entitled to. Even if it is grab rails in the bathroom, or a stool for the shower.

On a more serious note, if you are thinking of doing any alterations at home, then start them now, it will be far easier for your mum to cope with now than later on if she starts to become more confused.

tyllwyd

I think you and she need to think about whether to set up a Lasting Power of Attorney.
http://direct.gov.uk/en/Over50s/HomeAndCommunity/Carers/DG_10026855

If it is something she is happy to do, it is important to do it sooner rather than later, while your mum still has capacity.

RAS

Absolutely meerkat.

Unfortunately it costs more these days, but if you do it now, your mum can consent.

Even if you get a temporary fix, when she loses the capacity to consent, you HAVE to get an LPA, but it is more difficult.

If I had not organised the EPA (the old version of the LPA), I would have been unable to organise my mother's affairs. In the early days that meant we were able to choose and pay her daily carers. If we have not got the EPA, it would have prevented us moving here into a nursing home we likes and which was near relatives so she could be visited. It also mean that I was able to spend a little bit on money and maximise the value of her assets, which the Court of Protection would not have done.

meerkat2007

whatatwit wrote: »

Is she not entitled to claim Pension Credit or maybe she already is getting it.

Depending upon how the memory clinic goes, she may be allocated a social worker, this should help ensure that she is getting everything that she is entitled to. Even if it is grab rails in the bathroom, or a stool for the shower.

On a more serious note, if you are thinking of doing any alterations at home, then start them now, it will be far easier for your mum to cope with now than later on if she starts to become more confused.

She has the state pension, a small amount of pension credit, a monthly payment form my late father's superannuation, and I have recently applied for attendance allowance for her.

It's all rather strange, really. Physically, she's not in bad shape for her age, apart from dodgy knees, and a lot of the time I can have a virtually perfectly normal conversation with her, but then she'll say or do something that is totally nonsensical, as if her mind has momentarily changed into a random phrase generator.

meerkat2007

tyllwyd wrote: »

I think you and she need to think about whether to set up a Lasting Power of Attorney.
http://direct.gov.uk/en/Over50s/HomeAndCommunity/Carers/DG_10026855

If it is something she is happy to do, it is important to do it sooner rather than later, while your mum still has capacity.

We've discussed this just today, and she's quite happy to go down that route, so it's something I'm going to sort out after Christmas. It will make things an awful lot easier.

meerkat2007

RAS wrote: »

Absolutely meerkat.

Unfortunately it costs more these days, but if you do it now, your mum can consent.

Even if you get a temporary fix, when she loses the capacity to consent, you HAVE to get an LPA, but it is more difficult.

If I had not organised the EPA (the old version of the LPA), I would have been unable to organise my mother's affairs. In the early days that meant we were able to choose and pay her daily carers. If we have not got the EPA, it would have prevented us moving here into a nursing home we likes and which was near relatives so she could be visited. It also mean that I was able to spend a little bit on money and maximise the value of her assets, which the Court of Protection would not have done.

Thanks for this - I've spoken to her about it today, and she's quite happy to go own that route. My dad was never very good with official forms etc, so she always had to deal with that sort of thing for him, and I think that now, she's quite happy for me to take on that responsibility for her.