protecting elderly parents

[WillSantaComeAgain]

Hi all,

My 80 yr old mum is in generally good health but recently had a bit of a funny turn, where she seemed to appear to be suffering a mental breakdown - she became completely paranoid and started to say some very strange things. She has since improved and seems back to normal (and they have put it down to dehydration), but it does worry me that she and my 82yr old dad are really quite vulnerable. I'm worried about either someone scamming them out of their home/savings or (probably more realistically) one of them making a really bad financial decision (if they have a funny turn) and losing everything.

We don't want to put in PoAs in place as they are still just about able to manage their own financial affairs, and they are not willing to give up control yet (neither would we want them to), but we would like to have access to their financial information so we can "keep an eye" on what they're doing and provide support to suggest what they might to (for example) to increase their income or release some capital as required. Also, we would like to be able to put in place a backstop that means one of them can't do anything out of the ordinary (like selling all their shares) without either the other parent or one of us (their DC) confirming that its a legitimate decision being made while they have their wits about them.

Any legal solutions that might work?

Kate

Bumping this thread for you.
Have you actually set up a power of attorney - you can do this at any time in your life - as this can only be set up when person is of sound mind?
You can also get access to bank details as a third party provided your parents permit you to do this.
There are several threads on here about power of attorney but hopefully someone more knowledgeable will help you with your query.

You can get the POA set up in advance of needing it - that way you won't have to fight to prove that it is needed if/when things get tricky.

As to the rest of what you want, they would have to permit you to have access to their financial info - possibly by having you as a joint account holder. Or they can give you that info when you are round to see them, on an ad hoc basis.

But if they don't want to tell you, and don't choose to involve you in their decisions, then that is up to them. They are either capable of making their own choices, or not. There isn't a middle ground of "well I think they can still sort out the groceries but they shouldn't buy double glazing / a timeshare in the Seychelles"

There are legal ways of tying up their money, but they would have to choose to do them.

As has already been said PoA depends on the person being able to grant it, if they don't have capacity to grant the PoA then they can't do it - it is a choice made by an individual, not something done to them IYSWIM.

The advice that people are either capable or incapable is incorrect - people can have capacity to deal with some decisions but not others.

The exact legal mechanisms are different depending on where you live in the UK, so it would be worth seeking advice specific to the country your parents live in.

I would go with your intuition if you think your parents are vulnerable then they probably are. I was iin a terrible situation with my terribly sick and old mum and I didn't even think to get a door key off her and in they end her nextdoor neighbour controlled everything .she had a,key and wouldn't even let In relatives or at one instance the ambulance.

Your post sounds like you are mostly worried about their money?! Surely they would ask you to help if they wanted?