Elderly mother hoarding cash

Cairnpapple

Agree with talking to the bank and telling them everything, also emphasize that she is a vulnerable customer. 

friolento

Why couldn’t / didn’t she pay her mortgage with the cash as it became due monthly? How much mortgage is outstanding, how much are the monthly arrears she has clocked up?

IanManc

Deedeb said:

Hi. Any advice as have discovered my 80 yr old mother has 25k in cash in her home which she has been saving for many years to pay  off her mortgage. She has always hoarded money and has always  refusesd to listen to advice. I have now discovered Santander have issued court proceedings to repossess house if she doesn’t pay as they won’t extend her mortgage. The stress has made her physically ill so I have agreed to try and bank it in my own account, add a bit to it and pay the mortgage off. She has signed a temporary ordinary power of attorney and  have a bank statment proving she has pension income. Will I need other proof of where it came from? Thank you

An attorney should never put the power of attorney donor's money into the attorney's own account. 

The best thing you can do is tell Santander the truth. Tell them that she has hoarded cash for years and that you want to use it to pay towards the outstanding mortgage. 

southone

I would say speak to the bank however the bigger problem here may be if she's claiming pension credit or any other means tested housing type benefits that could be a big problem

silvercar

southone said:

I would say speak to the bank however the bigger problem here may be if she's claiming pension credit or any other means tested housing type benefits that could be a big problem

She won't be claiming housing benefit if she has her own home, albeit with a mortgage.

southone

silvercar said:

southone said:

I would say speak to the bank however the bigger problem here may be if she's claiming pension credit or any other means tested housing type benefits that could be a big problem

She won't be claiming housing benefit if she has her own home, albeit with a mortgage.

She could still be claiming council tax benefits or pension credit both of which are means tested

PRAISETHESUN

Depositing the cash into your account would be fraud/theft, so I agree that you should liaise with the bank to have it deposited directly into her account. Also echo the previous posts about discussing with the bank directly to try and resolve the issue.

Rob5342

Why has she been taking cash out and keeping it at home instead of paying off the mortgage with it?

I agree with the other posters, speak to the bank and explain the mess she has got herself into and see what they advise. I suggest you act as quickly as possible as that amount of cash may not be covered by her home insurance (if she even has it)

2catsandcounting

We had a similar situation with my uncle about 6 years ago, he’d been withdrawing his pension every fortnight and storing it in his wardrobe for god knows how long and had around £40k amassed.  Only found out after he was burgled and they missed all the money cos he was hidden under all the other crap he was hoarding (literally rubbish, crisp packets, coke bottles). We made an appointment with the bank (Halifax), explained the situation and were understanding. they could see the money being withdrawn at the same cash point, at the same time every other week. I think we also had a police report following the burglary, but don’t think it was necessary. 

Deedeb

Update. Excellent advice on here. I wrote out a general power of attorney and took the cash direct to Santander and explained everything. There was a bit of humming and harring  and a couple of phone calls but they agreed to allow it to be paid directly to redeem her mortgage to stop court proceedings. Relief all around! Thanks everyone.