Papa can no longer look after his finances- advice needed

londoner1998

Hello all

I wonder if someone has had to deal with this situation before, I would appreciate some advice.
My OH"s grandad, Papa, is 86, in hospital now for a heart problem (had a previous heart attack years ago) and more importantly, starting to lose his memory very rapidly. He has always looked after the finances, going to pay the bills every month, while Nanny looked after the house, the meals, etc... so she never has done this before. Now with him in hospital, this is not looked after and we want to make things can run as smoothly for them as possible. We have thought that may be we can get him to open a joint account with Nanny or one of his children, so that they can access and manage the money on his behalf. My OH's uncle can set up DD's on their behalf if they can get a joint account, to make sure the bills get paid on time each month. The thing is, he often doesn't know why he is where he is, (ie, in the hospital, he just doesn't know why he is there at all) and we have noticed him going to the bank with a 1K in his pocket to pay a bill, whereas before he always took just the right amount of money, and he has also lost his pension book, can't remember where it is. So he is getting a bit vulnerable and Nanny is feeling the pressure.

What do you advice? Of course, he is still here, but very quickly dementia is setting in and we don't want to have to deal with things at the last minute and Nanny to find herself in a situation where she can't handle things herself.

Is it relatively easy to open and joint account in these circumstances? my OH thinks that is Nanny tells him to do it he will do it, but I am not sure if this is ok. Also, is a joint account limited to only two people or has anyone ever seen more people signed up to an account (I have never seen it, but I can't think of a reason why not)? It would be ideal for him to have an account on his, his wife's and his son's name so that one of the three could access it and deal with it (Nanny has had cancer, a triple heart bypass a coupel of years ago and it getting a bit frail, my OH is taking her as a doctors appointment as I type)

Any advice appreciated - my OH is mobilising his uncles to deal with this before the situation gets any worse, we want to make sure they can be relived of having to worry about these things .
Any tips appreaciated.

Ax

Savvy_Sue

It depends, if 'Papa' ever has 'capacity' (ie understands what he is doing at some times) then arranging all this will be a LOT simpler, but if he has now completely lost 'capacity' it's more complicated. Either way it needs to be sorted as soon as possible, especially if Nanny isn't a signatory on any of the bank accounts, because if the banks realise Papa has lost capacity and he's sole signatory, I believe they could freeze the accounts.

What you need is a Power of Attorney. If Papa cannot sign the paperwork, then you need to look at this information.

There are more threads about this on the Over 50s board, so you might want to send a PM to the Board Guides and ask them to move it over there.

londoner1998

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

It depends, if 'Papa' ever has 'capacity' (ie understands what he is doing at some times) then arranging all this will be a LOT simpler, but if he has now completely lost 'capacity' it's more complicated. Either way it needs to be sorted as soon as possible, especially if Nanny isn't a signatory on any of the bank accounts, because if the banks realise Papa has lost capacity and he's sole signatory, I believe they could freeze the accounts.

What you need is a Power of Attorney. If Papa cannot sign the paperwork, then you need to look at this information.

There are more threads about this on the Over 50s board, so you might want to send a PM to the Board Guides and ask them to move it over there.

Thank you SavySue

he still has capacity, but more often than not he just forgets things as soon as they occur...I agree with you, I think we need to get this sorted asap, as he is being admitted to hospital more often than not nowadays and his memory is going very fast...
Thank you for those links, much appreciated...

Ax

superskintmouse

My bank offers a third party signatory option where Papa can just put his signature on a form giving someone or more than one person access to his account, eg writing cheques withdrawing money and getting statements etc. it does not allow them to close acounts or open new ones. the third party has to provide id and address verification. i would see if this is an option whilst waiting for poa to be agreed.
Adding nana onto the account is an option but he will have to give authority at the bank rather than just a signature and nana will have to be fully identified as with the 3rd party option.
Good luck hope thats helps

Caroline_a

When my dad started to struggle with his finances, I changed his bank account to an internet one (with his full approval, and he watched me while I did it). I could then show him any time he wanted to see what was happening with bills etc and make the numbers large enough on the screen for his eyes. I could also move money into his savings accounts for him. All bills were either paid for him online or by direct debit.

Blodeuwedd

I've been in your situation with my granny. She's 96 & not as compus mentis ...yet given her age she can be forgiven! She still lives alone. My cousin & I noticed a few £££ going missing round the house (she's one of these who hates a bank account but has been forced to open one to stop her saving the cash under her bed!!) and now we have a POW in place for her. She has her pension & we struggle to take some money away from her as shge insisrts on keeping it in her drawer......!

I dread when the day comes we have to clear her home & its gonna be a long haul checking behind every photograph, inside every book & under everything. I'm sure we'll find money no longer in circulation!!!