Dementia and catalogue/loans advice

martski67

Hi. My beloved wife was diagnosed with dementia last year but continued to purchase items via catalogues, many of which remain unopened. I have now applied for Lasting Power of Attorney, both financial and health, but I would like to ask a few questions. Firstly how should I now deal with the dozen or so catalogue accounts she has, do I take over them all and ,if so, am I actually liable for the debts - some of which were incurred after her diagnosis and without my knowledge. Secondly in the sad event of her death do these debts die with her?
Thirdly I intend ending our joint account, I take it this is a relatively common situation for the bank to deal with? Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Deleted User]

Contact the lenders and explain the situation. They are likely to be lenient in the collection of the debt. Make sure she doesn't buy anything more though. If you are still waiting for POA, you will need to ask her to give you permission to speak on her behalf.

The debts are not passed to you, but in the worst case, are settled from her estate.

You can close the joint account, but you are likely to also need her permission.

sourcrates

I will just add that some catalogue companies can be more difficult to deal with than others, you need to avoid the call handlers at these places, make sure everything is done in writing only, and you back up what you are telling them, preferably with medical evidence from your Doctor, because they will ask to see it otherwise.


And just remember, these are large organisations, so you may get automated collection letters sent to you, which will not reflect any contact you may have already had with other departments.

Bermonia

Ultimately you will be relying upon their goodwill at this stage as they cannot be held responsible for doing business with someone if they are not aware of any condition - one would expect most to be empathic to a point, however they will likely consider any debt of a reasonable amount to be valid

elsien

You personally are not liable for the debts, however as her power of attorney you would need to deal with them on her behalf.
Having a dementia diagnosis doesn't automatically mean that she didn't know what she was doing at the time she placed the orders - it's not possible to assess capacity in retrospect so it may be that you have to either look at payment plans or see whether in the circumstances they will allow you to return the unopened items.