No financial awareness

[Jimbob46]

My sister 76 has been diagnosed with dementia. She lives in Glasgow and I in Manchester, has little or no financial awareness at times and overspends and goes into debt. She has a debit card which she uses to get cash etc etc. I have spoken to the bank to ask if they can arrange a card debit or credit which does not allow her to go overdrawn but they say no can do. Any ideas?

 

[Grable]

The first thing you need to do, I oils say, is to see if you - or somebody else who is close to her - can get Power of Attorney.

 

[fizzie]

oh dear - this is very difficult with the distance between you. We just took my Ma's card away and gave her a fixed amount of money - ultimately we didn't give her cash at all because she had no idea. Is there anyone close to her that could do this - just say the card isn't working or something as a quick fix to stop this happening immediately again? Does she have a social worker who is contactable and helpful?

I agree that Power of Attorney for Finance and Health and Welfare are going to be very important but it does take a while to go through.

 

[Snapper000]

Money management with dementia

oh dear - this is very difficult with the distance between you. We just took my Ma's card away and gave her a fixed amount of money - ultimately we didn't give her cash at all because she had no idea. Is there anyone close to her that could do this - just say the card isn't working or something as a quick fix to stop this happening immediately again? Does she have a social worker who is contactable and helpful?

I agree that Power of Attorney for Finance and Health and Welfare are going to be very important but it does take a while to go through.

Hi Fizzie
Just reading your post about your Mum and taking her bank card away. I'm just at a crossroads with my Mum and Dad. Mum has been drawing more cash out lately of their joint account but has no recollection of why and what happens to the money - just curious to know what you did once you took the card away - how did you manage her money - my Mum is still able to shop, cook etc for my dad, but I'm not sure how to go about managing her day to day money.
I live on the doorstep and have POA over their accounts, and also have access to their online accounts.
Any advice appreciated. Thanks Tracy.