Power of Attorney and running bank accounts 27 April 2017 at 4:32PM in Over 50s MoneySaving 15 replies 9.2K views

G_M

What are the terms of the POA?

Many are poorly drafted (or not thought through) and it may state that you have to jointly manage her account. That could mean 4 signatures everytime you do something.

Having said that, in my experience most banks don't enforce this (though legally they should!), and will let one of the attornies manage the account online/ via debit card etc.

I always kept a spreadsheet of every transaction I undertook on mum's behalf. And sent it to my siblings every month - very easy by email.

Not that my siblings, or mum, didn't trust me, and I don't think they even looked through it to be honest (maybe they did), but being an atourney IS a responsibility and the transparancy is important.

Mojisola

G_M wrote: »

I always kept a spreadsheet of every transaction I undertook on mum's behalf. And sent it to my siblings every month - very easy by email.

Not that my siblings, or mum, didn't trust me, and I don't think they even looked through it to be honest (maybe they did), but being an atourney IS a responsibility and the transparancy is important.

I did something similar to cover the possibility that I wasn't able to continue - any of the others could have stepped in knowing exactly the state of affairs.

Keep_pedalling

You don't need an new email account for your mother you will be able to use you own once you are given authority to manage her accounts. They should be issuing you with your own cards, and if she no longer has the capacity do any banking herself then her cards should be withdrawn, so effectively you manage her account much like one of your you own.

Linton

You should set up an appointment with your bank to talk to them about what you want to do. You will need to show them the PoA documentation so that they know you have the authority to manage your mother's affairs. These days you should find that the bank has standard procedures for handling PoAs. Dont try and hide what is happening from the bank.

As both I and my relative banked with Nat West the bank was able to simply add his accounts to my online banking. It made things very easy.

Gers

Gers wrote: »

I have POA for my mother and hold a debit card for her current account. Whenever I use it for her I always record the transaction on a spreadsheet and keep a scan of the receipt. I then give her the receipt.

<snip>

There's no other attorneys on the POA but I'd rather make sure I keep accurate records for both our sakes. It's a big responsibility!

G_M wrote: »

I always kept a spreadsheet of every transaction I undertook on mum's behalf. And sent it to my siblings every month - very easy by email.

Not that my siblings, or mum, didn't trust me, and I don't think they even looked through it to be honest (maybe they did), but being an atourney IS a responsibility and the transparancy is important.

Yes, I agree and it's what I do even though my only sibling died many years ago.

Linton wrote: »

You will need to show them the PoA documentation so that they know you have the authority to manage your mother's affairs. These days you should find that the bank has standard procedures for handling PoAs. Dont try and hide what is happening from the bank.

My mother's bank took a copy of the PoA for their records, as did Nationwide, BT and Sainsbury's (car insurance). I now have a pdf of it on my phone so once I've shown to relevant parties I can email it to them if they want it.