Joint account with Brother

Mr_Falling_Star

Can somebody recommend a bank account in these circumstances

My Father has passed away recently and my Mum has gone into care. Lloyds bank have said they will release the funds in my dads account as it is below the level where probate is needed. We need the money (£47K) to help pay for my Mums care. So therefore we have decided to set up a joint bank account in our names so everything is completely transparent.

I live about 300 miles away from my brother so this causes its own issues, can somebody give some recommendations to a joint account we can open and run online while not physically together. We would prefer it to be account where you both have to sign to release money

Thanks

agrinnall

Whose money is it? Was it left to you and your brother, or is it in fact your mother's money? If the latter then you can't put it in an account in your names - I would suggesting getting a Financial LPA with both of you as attorneys, then you can access the money while it's in an account owned by your mother.

xylophone

If this money belongs to your mother then it should be in an account in her name.

Does your mother have the capacity to give you and your brother Power of Attorney?

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/make-lasting-power

Mr_Falling_Star

xylophone wrote: »

If this money belongs to your mother then it should be in an account in her name.

Does your mother have the capacity to give you and your brother Power of Attorney?

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/make-lasting-power

My mother has no capacity whatsoever and is in a care home with dementia. My Brother had my Fathers power of attorney for her signed over to him days before he passed away (I live away) There is other money which is going through probate however we need to pay for care somehow and this is the best way that we can think of while we wait for the POA/Probate to go through (we have been told this will take 3 months or so)

xylophone

Have you advised the care home that your mother's money cannot be accessed until the formalities with probate/POA have gone through?

Dird

Is there no public care homes funded by the tax payer? If you have no means to pay (as you don't without the money off your dad) then surely the government would help?

agrinnall

You still haven't said whether the £47K that you are thinking of putting into the joint account belongs to you and your brother or to your mother. You've been asked the question more than once now, and the responses you'll get are very different depending on your answer.

Mr_Falling_Star

The money belongs to my Mother, it is to pay for her care.

colsten

Mr_Falling_Star wrote: »

The money belongs to my Mother, it is to pay for her care.

If the money is in a joint account held by you and your brother, it belongs to you and your brother. Either of you could legally spend all of it on yourself. Although the LA could come after you for deprivation of assets.

EDIT: [STRIKE]You need to sort out some sort of POA.[/STRIKE] On reading up, I see your brother already has POA for your mother so all seems in hand. Your brother has no right to transfer your mother's money to any bank account in his and/or your or anyone else's name. He must use the money for your mother's benefit, and he has to keep appropriate accounts to prove that he did.

Mr_Falling_Star wrote: »

My Brother had my Fathers power of attorney for her signed over to him days before he passed away

xylophone

On reading up, I see your brother already has POA for your mother so all seems in hand.

I am wondering whether the OP's brother is awaiting a formal acknowledgement from the OPG that he is recorded as POA?

Keep_pedalling

Mr_Falling_Star wrote: »

My mother has no capacity whatsoever and is in a care home with dementia. My Brother had my Fathers power of attorney for her signed over to him days before he passed away (I live away) There is other money which is going through probate however we need to pay for care somehow and this is the best way that we can think of while we wait for the POA/Probate to go through (we have been told this will take 3 months or so)

I assume from this that your brother was originally named as an alternative attorney if your father was unable to act for her any longer, because there is no other way that can happen. As your brother is the only named attorney then only he can open an account on her behalf.

I am my mother's attorney, and because she can no longer act for herself, her bank account is now in the name of Mr Keep Pedding acting as attorney for Mrs Finished Peddling. It should be relatively easy for him to either set up a new account for her, or do as I have done and take control of her existing current account if she has one.