Easy-access savings for elderly

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  • Lemon2
    Lemon2 Posts: 9
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    Brie said:
    I assume the concern is that Grandma may be scammed or a carer commit fraud to gain access to her funds.  And thus having a small amount shifted to her current account so that she maintains some control over her day to day finances. 

    My suggestion is that some trusted individual (you, your parent, or?) have a joint account with Grandma with the £25k in it and the trusted individual could shift the required amount each month.  The problem with this is that when Grandma dies the balance that remains is said to belong to the trusted individual and is not part of Grandma's estate.  An alternative is to have Grandma set up a savings account and grant the trusted individual third party authority thus allowing them to shift the monthly amount within the rules of the bank.  Access either way could be online to make life easy.  We had both these set ups with MiL's accounts with me as RTA with one bank and OH joint with another.  

    Should there be any question from the local authority at some point of the ownership of the money it can be made clear particularly if you keep records of the source and the trusted individual is always only using it for G's benefit.  

    All of which begs the question - why is she doing equity release rather than asking the LA to fund some of the care?  Possibly she wants to pick her carers?  And is she also claiming attendance allowance?  Not a means tested benefit so there's no reason why she shouldn't.
    Thanks for taking the time to reply.  Yes, that is the concern - so we think it's safer to have the majority of the funds separate from her normal day-to-day account.

    She is claiming AA, and yep you're right, she wants to choose her own carers.

    Thanks again!
  • Lemon2
    Lemon2 Posts: 9
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    eskbanker said:
    Lemon2 said:
    What we want to do is to have that money in a separate account
    Do you, or anyone else, have Lasting Power of Attorney for her?  While this is often associated with losing mental capacity, etc, it can be useful for those who are less mobile and/or who are unlikely to be able to cope with online banking and so on, so this would allow someone to operate an account while the money clearly remains hers....
    Thanks for this - I've just started looking into this too!
  • Lemon2
    Lemon2 Posts: 9
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    I opened a Marcus account for my 85 year old mum and after a few times showing how to use it and make deposits / withdrawals she loves it. It is so simple to operate. She now renews her bonuses by herself and is delighted to see what interest she gets every month on £70k previously held in an HSBC ISA paying 0.5%!
    Ah, thank you for this!  I've actually just been looking at Marcus.  I'm thinking of setting it up with my mobile number (she doesn't have one) but her email address.  Hopefully that would be ok!
  • Albermarle
    Albermarle Posts: 21,642
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    Lemon2 said:
    eskbanker said:
    Lemon2 said:
    What we want to do is to have that money in a separate account
    Do you, or anyone else, have Lasting Power of Attorney for her?  While this is often associated with losing mental capacity, etc, it can be useful for those who are less mobile and/or who are unlikely to be able to cope with online banking and so on, so this would allow someone to operate an account while the money clearly remains hers....
    Thanks for this - I've just started looking into this too!
    It is easiest to do this on line Then after you have paid, you print out the filled in form, and then it needs quite a lot of signatures. Then you send it off and wait....
    There are two types , one for finance and one for Health and Welfare.
    Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
  • Lemon2 said:
    I opened a Marcus account for my 85 year old mum and after a few times showing how to use it and make deposits / withdrawals she loves it. It is so simple to operate. She now renews her bonuses by herself and is delighted to see what interest she gets every month on £70k previously held in an HSBC ISA paying 0.5%!
    Ah, thank you for this!  I've actually just been looking at Marcus.  I'm thinking of setting it up with my mobile number (she doesn't have one) but her email address.  Hopefully that would be ok!
    She messed up logging in once and got locked out. CS were excellent in resolving the issue with her on the phone and were very understanding of her age and IT skills.
    16 Panel (250W JASolar) 4kWp, facing 170 degrees, 40 degree slope, Solis Inverter. Installed 29/9/2015 - £4700 (Norfolk Solar Together Scheme); 9.6kWh US2000C Pylontech batteries + Solis Inverter installed 12/4/2022 Year target (PVGIS-CMSAF) = 3880kWh - Installer estimate 3452 kWh:Average over 6 years = 4400 :j
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