Managing POA from a distance

I do PoA from 400 miles away and have been executor now 3 times from the same distance. It's fine.

I would suggest getting a trusted person on the ground to do stuff in person in an emergency - in my case this has involved moving the hospital bag to the hospital, zimmer frame to hospital, shoes to hospital as all have been left behind at various points, reinstalling apps on TV, ipad and iphone.

I rely on a network of cleaner, neighbours and my friends' teenagers (I pay them all except the neighbours who get copiously rewarded with wine).

I would encourage your DM to put all of her bills onto DD. She may enjoy having a reason to get out of the house, but if that changes it’s easier to have it done.
Has she given you a list of any savings accounts she has? It’s good to get the POA registered well before you need it, as if you do there will be many other things to do.

I am in the early stages of acting as POA for my DF who has had to go into a nursing home. I agree it can mostly be done remotely and fortunately he kept good records and all the bills were on DD (mum is still in the family home but utterly useless with finances and I am POA for her too although using it with a lighter touch). The main issue I have had is that they did very little online so I have had to go and search out paperwork at their house. So all the day to day stuff I can see from online banking which companies they have eg utilities and insurance with, but Dad has old ISAs etc with only paper records and I have had to travel back from time to time (it’s not that far for me fortunately) to find boxes of paperwork.If your mum does a lot online and is organised that should hopefully help. As does being single, I am finding separating my parents finances to protect mum’s money from dad’s care fees complicated.

The eye-opener for me has been how little of it can be done online compare to my own banking, I am spending a lot of time on the phone to various companies. It’s like going back in time 25 years except there are no branches of banks to go to.

DH is executing the will of someone that lived 200 miles from us, the only real problem has been their house, keeping it safe, clearing it, organising valuations etc, he has been travelling up and down a fair bit.

I manage my dad's affairs from 100 miles away. (2.5 hours due to lack of dual carriageway Edinburgh to Newcastle!!)
I do his online shopping, pay his cleaner and other people. I have his NHS app on my phone if I need it. I visit every 4-6 weeks depending on my commitments here. My brother is further away near London but he could do stuff too. Also the executor stuff easy from a distance once started.
Who would replace you in these positions if she wanted to. You don't want anyone that you might not get on with.

I managed my father's financial affairs from over 400 miles away and the other side of a sea. And that was a few years back when things weren't quite as well set up for doing everything remotely.

My mum is 92. I live a couple of hours away and am her POA. She chose to have the finances start immediately so I just do stuff remotely. DWP stuff comes to me either posted or emailed and I'm on banking online so keep an eye out. I do her insurance, check gas/electric suppliers remotely and just sorted council tax exemption all from my house.

With the internet now, you could be in Australia and it wouldn't make any difference.

Does she understand the difference between having a POA and being a carer? The POA isn’t about being the one to provide hands-on care. And by that I’d include driving her to medical appointments, doing the shopping, cooking, cleaning.
POA, the financial one, means managing her financial affairs along the lines she intended. So making sure bills are paid, savings are looked after responsibly and she has the money she needs for day-to-day spending. You don’t need to see or live near the person to do this, although it can be a pain to set up initially, especially whilst all the financial paperwork is still going to her address. Some can be done online, some you might need to visit a branch to get it set up - that might be impractical if it’s eg a local building society.

There’s no need to live nearby to be an executor. Although it does affect the choices you might make. Eg it probably isn’t practical to try and clear the house yourself over a long period of time so you might need to blitz it using annual leave or a house clearance company. It can be problematic leaving a house empty for a period of time but you can pay someone to check on it.

I managed my parents affairs from 220 miles away for quite a while. I’m an only child. My mother died 2 years ago & my father in April. I never had an issue.