Aunt Owing Money While In A Care HOme.

millie.molly.mandy

My elderly aunt, who has dementia and has been in a care home for the last five weeks has expressed a wish for me to deal with her affairs.
When we went to her flat, there were a lot of correspondence with regard to money owed. It appears that over the past year she has accrued a lot of debt. She has purchased many items on line, most of them from shopping channels, and paid by credit card.
She got a new sofa and chairs, from DFS, with the usual four years to pay, plus a mass of electrical equipment.
There are also loans, from Wonga and the like. At a rough guess I think we are looking at about £20k. (There are three cc cards).
There are letters from debt agencies, banks, and none of these will discuss with me, even though I have power of attorney.
They are adamant that debts must be paid, which of course they can't be. The flat is rented, and her bank account has a zero balance.
What can I do? I am not in a position to deal with this and the hassle is becoming continuous and very tiring. I have my own issues, so I am at a dead end of where to turn.

[Deleted User]

your aunt has expressed a wish for you to deal with her affairs,i assume in recent weeks?are you sure you have been granted power of attorney already?

redpete

Does she still have any of the electrical goods in the house? Could any of them be returned for a refund? If not could any of them be sold?

I would contact CAB to see what advice they have, you should not try to solve all your aunt's problems on your own.

jonesMUFCforever

If she has dementia she is not able to ask you to deal with her affairs you need to go through the court of protection to obtain the equivalent of power of attorney.
You would be best to contact a solicitor - please be aware this is not a cheap procedure.

Are you the next of kin??

millie.molly.mandy

The care home gave me a form, which she has signed and has been witnessed. Which apparently allows me to deal with her affairs.
Her dementia is intermittent, but is becoming increasingly worse. I am her next of kin, in this country. She has a son in Canada, who has indicated that he has no wish to get involved. I suspect that this is the case because of the debt.
The electrical items appear not to all be in the property, a close friend says she was buying items for her buddies at the drop in centre, she bought one lady a dishwasher and a TV for another man.
I have no idea where it will all end.
TBH it gets worse every time I go around to the flat, which has to be vacated by the end of November, so that is another issue.
What will happen if I just deal with emptying the flat and just leave the rest, I don't want problems for her, but on the positive side what can they do, she has not got a clue. I do wonder why these companies allow such a high amount of credit to a 72 year old lady.

Torry_Quine

millie.molly.mandy wrote: »

The care home gave me a form, which she has signed and has been witnessed. Which apparently allows me to deal with her affairs.
Her dementia is intermittent, but is becoming increasingly worse. I am her next of kin, in this country. She has a son in Canada, who has indicated that he has no wish to get involved. I suspect that this is the case because of the debt.
The electrical items appear not to all be in the property, a close friend says she was buying items for her buddies at the drop in centre, she bought one lady a dishwasher and a TV for another man.
I have no idea where it will all end.
TBH it gets worse every time I go around to the flat, which has to be vacated by the end of November, so that is another issue.
What will happen if I just deal with emptying the flat and just leave the rest, I don't want problems for her, but on the positive side what can they do, she has not got a clue. I do wonder why these companies allow such a high amount of credit to a 72 year old lady.

That doesn't sound like a power of attorney form. I strongly suggest that you find out what this is and if needed get a proper POA completed.

jonesMUFCforever

Sorry but I disagree.
Dementia means she has no mental capacity to make these decisions.
To deal with her bank accounts for instance you will need a PoA.

Whether he lives in Canada or not the son is the next of kin.

As things stand you do not have any legal authority to deal with this.
I urge you to contact a solicitor pronto.

elsien

millie.molly.mandy wrote: »

The care home gave me a form, which she has signed and has been witnessed. Which apparently allows me to deal with her affairs.

If she has dementia then there should have been an assessment of capacity to determine whether she was able to sign any power of attorney. (It doesn't mean she can't, but it does need professionals and people who know her to make that assessment.) Which the care home should not be doing on their own. What is the form, who witnessed it and when was it drawn up/dated?

Aside from which power of attorneys have to be registered,which can take 2 or 3 months and there is a cost for that. I think you really need to check and post what the form is you've been given as I suspect it might not be what you need.

Also try AgeUk who are really good for advice. The bottom line though is if she hasn't got it she can't pay it. And you are not obliged to pay her debts for her. So what you need is good advice on how to get the agencies off your back. Which is where AgeUk come in.
The other thing to consider is whether you want to be the person dealing with all this if you're not in a position to be able to cope with the stress. You don't have to, even if you feel an obligation as a relative. If there's no-one else, tell the home to get social services involved - I'm presuming they were involved in helping her move into care as she sounds unlikely to be self funding, so pass the buck back to them if you need to.

Torry_Quine

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Sorry but I disagree.
Dementia means she has no mental capacity to make these decisions.
To deal with her bank accounts for instance you will need a PoA.

Whether he lives in Canada or not the son is the next of kin.

As things stand you do not have any legal authority to deal with this.
I urge you to contact a solicitor pronto.

With dementia especially in the earlier stages its not necessarily the case that mental capacity is totally gone and certainly not all the time. This means that legal documents can be completed during lucid moments.

Who has POA is up to the person giving it and it doesn't have to even be a relative far less the closest one.

dalesrider

millie.molly.mandy wrote: »

She has a son in Canada, who has indicated that he has no wish to get involved. I suspect that this is the case because of the debt.
.

TBH. I would be tellling the son. This is his responsibility to deal with.
While you may be the closest relative in the UK. You did indicate in your 1st post you have issues of your own.

As such I would just tell the care home they need to deal with the son.

As to the letters. If they won't talk to you. And without P of A I know they won't there is nothing they can do.

millie.molly.mandy

I have today drafted a letter to the creditors, explaining the situation and informing them that I am no longer responsible for my aunts affairs.
I have also contacted her son, who is adamant that he has no desire to be involved. (There is a history of bad feeling there).
I have given the creditors the Care Home address and will leave the matter there.
As you so rightly say, it is not my problem. I will be clearing out the flat and disposing of her items accordingly, she is only allowed to have personal effects at the home, and to be fair there is little of real value, except the new sofa and TV and normal household items.
I spoke to the care home, who said that the form was to allow me authority to make decisions on her behalf in relation to her care, and was witnessed by an independent person. I was told at the time of signing that it covered all her affairs both in and out of the home. I have told them what I have done with regard to the creditors, they didn't seem too pleased, but I am not in a position to deal with this now.
Many thanks.