Joint bank accounts again

[Maggiemol]

I know this topic crops up regularly but I would appreciate some advice specific to our situation. My OH has moderate to severe AD. I deal with all financial issues and have for many years. Our savings are in separate names but we have a joint bank account. My pensions are worth twice as much as my OH. Is it wise for me to set up a separate account for my pensions and then transfer sufficient to the joint bank account to meet our living costs. In the future could there be a problem with continuing with a joint account?
Should I notify our bank about my husband's AD. We do not have a financial or health POA.
Thank you

 

[lemonjuice]

Should I notify our bank about my husband's AD. We do not have a financial or health POA.

It was my understanding, and I appreciate others may know more, that in the event of a joint account holder 'losing capacity' a bank may freeze the account and you would then need either PoA or permission from Court of Protection to be able to administer control over their finances.

In which case it would seem eminently sensible to divide your own pension off, so you can pay household bills etc in that eventuality.
I would also look into what you will need to do if you don't already have PoA and how long applying to Court of Protection takes. Even would it be possible to get a PoA now. Some solicitors will allow it providing the person shows capacity to understand when they actually sign. Will save you a lot of money as CoP charge you every year.

 

[Shedrech]

hi Maggiemol
definitely, yes, separate out your 2 incomes, especially as you have a much higher income - sounds mercenary, I know, but YOU will need all the finance you can should your OH move into a care home, and the financial assessment on his care may well just assume that half of any monies in any joint account are his
and when you are paying household bills, make sure half comes from each of your then separate accounts - again, may sound petty, but otherwise you are effectively funding him and should you ever need care, that may have a knock on effect
I agree with lemonjuice, if it is at all possible, arrange for POAs for both finance & property and health & welfare - your OH needs to understand that you are doing these to have his permission to help him in future and agree to that AT THE TIME of signing, and you can get a long-standing friend to help, as long as the friend believes that your husband has sufficient capacity to grasp what he is doing at that moment - the forms are online - might be best to have 2 Attorneys to act jointly and severally, or at least have a named replacement to act should you not be able to - wouldn't be a bad idea to have these organised for you, too, just in case you are ever ill, so someone else has the authority to deal with your affairs
https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/overview
if you think that your husband still has some capacity to let you know how he wants you to deal with his affairs, there's no need to contact the bank; that issue arises when your OH no longer has capacity, then you will need the POA or apply to become his Deputy
best wishes

 

[marionq]

Absolutely have separate accounts and transfer in what is needed. If your husband was being assessed then half of everything in the joint account would be assessed as his even if it is a current account.

 

[Maggiemol]

Thank you. I had the forms for POA and I am now starting the process of completion and registration. I have put it off but OH appears to be open to it at the moment. I will then sort out the bank accounts.

 

[marionq]

You don't have to have POA to go into the bank and open an account in your own name and arrange for your pensions etc to be paid into that. That is what I did and left the joint account in both our names so that I could continue to administer it. This was done quite some time ago and has made life a lot more straightforward financially.

 

[Maggiemol]

Thanks Marionq that is just what I want to do with the bank accounts, use our joint account to manage the household budget, making transfers from the cash in my account as needed. It has been really useful to learn from the experience of everyone on TP.