LPA attorney looking through finances

[peachstone]

I posted before about my FiL going into care recently. He and MiL have a joint bank account which MiL has been managing for a while now. LPA was taken out by her and some of FiL's family a while back. We've learned that one of them has been looking through their joint account without asking MiL first. This seems highly inappropriate to me and I'm very concerned about it. Any thoughts, please?

 

[Beate]

Has the LPA been done "jointly" or "jointly and severally"? If the latter, the attorney has every right to do so. Plus, looking through is not the same as making financial decisions.

 

[peachstone]

It may be that the person in question has 'every right' to look through the account.

What bothers me is that MiL is still using it and that it was looked through without asking her first.

 

[nitram]

Assuming care for FIL is being paid for out of the joint account I suggest that it be split into two accounts - FIL and MIL.

It may take a bit of sorting out in terms of incoming and outgoing funds bit will put things on a firm footing for the future.

 

[Beate]

I get it would have been nicer if that person had asked beforehand, but presumably this person has been given access details to the Internet banking and hasn't just gone into MIL's house and rifled through her bank statements? Hence, why is it highly inappropriate to use these access details? Half of the money in the joint account belongs to the donor, and I would have thought an attorney has a right to check up on it. If MIL doesn't want her own finances exposed, I suggest separating the money into different accounts. She could also have a meeting with the other attorneys suggesting better communication and who should do what, but she can't really exclude them from anything.

 

[Jessbow]

The attorney should really have separated the finances at the time of appointment.

I cannot see that the attorney has done anything wrong. Preumably all the attorneys have equal say and access, either jointly or severally.

You can't really have someone acting for someone and no want to let him see the relevant figures etc