Putting all of my mother's savings into an account under my name?

JohnRo

GustyGardenGalaxy wrote: »

I see that the key word is separate - from what I've read here:

https://www.gov.uk/lasting-power-attorney-duties/property-financial-affairs

there should be no reason why I can't set up an NS&I account under my name and simply put all of my mother's NS&I savings into it. That would still be a separate account and would only be used to pay for fees, items, etc related to my mother.

If the account is in your name then the contents are yours, that's not keeping the donor, your mother's, finances separate from your own.

GustyGardenGalaxy

Linton wrote: »

Still a bad idea. If you were to die the money could be seen as yours and the account frozen. Doubly bad news for mother. It would seem the PoA requires that both you and your brother approve any transactions. You (or your solicitor) need to get round that problem in a legally solid way.

A very good point, I hadn't thought of that.

Okay, best that we leave things as they are then just to be 100% safe. Not having online access to the funds though (as well as having to have co-signed letters for everything) is going to be a real nuisance though. I'm so used to accessing my own bank account online that managing my mother's funds via letters feels like going back to the stone age.

You would have thought that with today's technology the banks could come up with a way for all joint attorneys of an LPA to be online and authorise transactions simultaneously (or within a few minutes of each other). So much easier than faffing around with co-signed letters.

But apparently not.

GustyGardenGalaxy

JohnRo wrote: »

If the account is in your name then the contents are yours, that's not keeping the donor, your mother's, finances seperate from your own.

I see what you mean. That's a no go then.

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice - this is why I posted my query here. You've all been most helpful. I'll leave things as they are (unless anyone else has any suggestions as to how to make transfers easier).

alanq

Funds held in your name would be yours. If you die, divorce, are sued, require means tested benefits etc. they would be considered yours and your mother would lose. Any income would be taxed as your income.

NS&I terms require that funds are held for the benefit of the named account holder (with special arrangements for trustees, attorneys and the like).

If mother still has capacity then perhaps a new LPA could be drawn up.

Apodemus

Presumably, though, you could set up a standing order for the care home fees and then either pay the incidentals yourself in return for a refund from your mother's account every few months or agree with your brother to transfer a couple of months-worth of incidental costs across to you upfront as an imprest that you account for when it starts to run down?

Keep_pedalling

This is the reason that having your attorneys act jointly is rarely a good idea, and it would get even worse should either of you die or be incapacitated, because the POA would fail.

If your mother still has the mental capacity I would seriously consider sorting out a new LPA with both of you being able to manage jointly and severally, or have you as the sole attorney with your brother (or another close relative) as back up attorney.

G_M

The best solution, if possible, is to open a new account with a 'proper' bank, in your mother's name, and with yourself (and brother if they insist) named as POAs on the account.

In my experience, none of the major banks insist on both POAs acting together whatever the terms of the POA are. You could then apply for online banking with, say, Natwest, Santander, whoever and you'd be able to make online payments from her account without your brother's involvement.

Obviously you'd need your brother's agreement initially to transfer some/all of her NS&I credit into the new account - but presumably a) your brother trusts you and b) he is also concerned about the impracticality of the arrangement.

The difficulty I foresee is getting the account open initially in your mother's name.

GustyGardenGalaxy

Thanks again for the suggestions.

I need to have a think and a chat with my brother.

kkgree1

I'd second alanq's suggestion to get a new LPA set up whilst your mother still has capacity.

We have just done this for my mother-in-law who has lived in a care home for the last 2 years and her son & daughter have acted as attorneys, jointly and severally.

We hit an issue with the current LPA not containing permission to allow investment decisions to be delegated to attorneys and this will be an issue when she loses mental capacity. We have tried different solutions but have met a brick wall. The easiest solution has been to get a new LPA, albeit it with costs involved, to have the wording added to allow the investments to be maintained by the attorneys going forward. She has also added an extra attorney (me) to help with the long-term management of her finances.