managing a bank account for a vulnerable adult

Melmel

Hello
I need some help for my sister-in-law.
She is in her early 30s and has some physical and mental disabilities, she doesn't have the full mental capabilities to look after her own finances. However she likes her independence and we like her to go shopping and go out for dinner when she chooses. She has been over-spending recently so we decided her brother (my partner) will manage her money.
We were hoping something like Monzo, where she has the card and uses that to spend & take cash out, but that he can manage the money and monitor how much she has access to (if he had the app for her card on his phone). However he doesn't have power of attorney. And Monzo rejected her application (based on her credit rating i'm guessing).
Can anyone suggest a legitimate way he can look after her finances and the money coming in (her benefits) while she can spend and lift cash with some independence? Starling? Post office account? Someone else managing her money (without power of attorney) seems to be the tricky bit. Needs to be handy in that he can manage remotely (like on an app) and that she can spend and lift cash but with limits. 
Any help or advice greatly appreciated!
M 
 

WillPS

I think your situation really requires Power of Attorney, you need something where both parties have full control over the account but not a joint account.

There are solutions that allow both parties to share responsibility which involve creating a link between credit records (which sounds inadvisable in the circumstances) or products where a second party gets a debit card (Starling connected card or Barclays additional cardholder), but I don't think these fit the bill.

TheBanker

Is he just wanting to keep an eye on the balance, not actually restrict spending or make transactions on her behalf?

Melmel

TheBanker said:

Is he just wanting to keep an eye on the balance, not actually restrict spending or make transactions on her behalf?

No he would need to restrict spending and budget for her ie £100/week available to her

TheBanker

I think he will need a Power of Attorney then. No bank is going to allow someone to restrict someone else's access to their money without one. In that situation I would only get involved if I had PoA. Trying to restrict someone's access to their state benefits could land you in all sorts of bother. The PoA protects your partner legally as well

Nebulous2

My experience is in Scotland, which could be different depending where you are- but what you want to do isn't easily done. 

People can only grant power of attorney while they have capacity to manage their own affairs. If they don't have capacity it needs to go to court for guardianship (deputyship in England)

You could try one of the learning disability charities, such as Mencap for advice and suggestions, but most routes are going to depend on her being willing to go along with the scheme in mind, and she could withdraw that and take back control whenever she likes. 

Melmel

Ok thanks for all your help people. I can see where the complications will arise without PoA. Will attempt to start that process then. Appreciated!

IanManc

TheBanker said:

I think he will need a Power of Attorney then. No bank is going to allow someone to restrict someone else's access to their money without one. In that situation I would only get involved if I had PoA. Trying to restrict someone's access to their state benefits could land you in all sorts of bother. The PoA protects your partner legally as well

Power of Attorney does not give the Attorney any rights whatsoever to restrict the Donor's access to their own money, and this advice you have given is just plain wrong.

As Nebulous2 has posted, if the lady lacks mental capacity then Deputyship (in England and Wales) would need to be sought in order for someone to take control of the lady's affairs, but where someone still has mental capacity then there is no legal mechanism available where someone else can prevent her from doing what she wishes with her own money and property.

elsien

May I suggest you talk to her about the reasons why she is over spending recently? There are many people on this forum who have made some incredibly unwise decisions around their spending, but it doesn’t mean they lack capacity.

Does she live independently, pay her own bills et cetera? Does she have an appointee or does she manage any benefits that she gets. Because if she’s been doing that up till now it doesn’t indicate a lack of capacity.
Does she actually want any help with her finances? And if she does have capacity to make a power-of-attorney, it is her choice whether to do so or not and also to choose who to support her. Which may or may not be your other half.

if she is assessed to lack capacity around her finances, and her only income is benefits, there is a way round the problem without having a power-of-attorney or deputy ship. That would be for her to have an appointee and for the appointee to have the benefits paid to them and then transfer the correct amount into her bank account every week. It doesn’t give any authority to manage the bank account though, just the benefits.

Compound_2

Could there not be a same provider savings account facility? The brother would manage online login to transfer reasonable amounts back and forth. It would rely on discipline or lack of capacity to ensure sister didn't independently do this.

COIAHLGW

What do you envision happening if a transaction is rejected in the shop?