@j266620j wrote:
I am needing guidance with my 89 year old mother. She started having difficulty with her business affairs and forgetting to pay bills, etc. I have a POA so I stepped in to help. She is carrying a large amount of debt, but it's manageable with a close watch on the finances. Once everything was set up on auto pay, I thought it would go smoothly but thought wrong. She continues to spend, authorize extra payments over the phone, etc. She has depleted all savings, and has whittled away any cushion in her bank account. Set her up with her own account for her household spending but she blows through that like water. Don't want her to lose everything she has but am at my wits end. She gets irrate and defiant in any conversation so need help. She has memory loss but refuses medical help.
Read the POA - I assume you have it in a legal document and it has been signed by her assigning you this responsibility when certain conditions, usually outlined in the document, occur. Sounds like you have not fully activated the POA -
If she is incompetent (incapable/incapacitated) of managing her affairs then you need to have her declared as such and have your name as her POA put on and activated on all her accounts. You may have to have her doctor sign off on her condition, you may have to go to court to become her guardian. Depending upon their condition, sometimes you only have to activate the POA because their condition makes it so that they cannot and will not try to handle any of their affairs.
You cancel ALL her access to bank accounts / credit cards, etc. Give her a bit of cash if necessary but dish it out slowly during the month. The POA is not going to work if she still has access.
Either she has access to her money or she doesn't - there is no inbetween.
In short, you do it all for her and you have pretty complete control. The fundamental rules governing an agent’s power is that they are expected to act in their principal’s best interest. You can sell assets, open accounts, close accounts - you can make arrangements of where she is going to live, qualify her for Medicaid or other government programs.
You may have to become her Representative Payee at the Social Security Administration accounting for those funds and where they will go to use for her benefit. You become her health representative on Medicare - enabling you to discuss anything with Medicare; even making decisions for her on plans, etc. You will need her health care POA or health directive to make any medical decisions for her legally. If you do not have the later, work with the person(s) that do have it - hopefully that is in place.
You do it all allowed under the POA for her - acting as her legal agent. You can do it now or you can wait and clean up the possible mess.
Aging.com - Things You Can and Can't Do With Power of Attorney
The AARP has many articles on POA - do a search.
However, making it work when needed is sometimes not easy - depending upon the senior and their condition.
