Record keeping

Beetroot

Registered User
Aug 19, 2015
360
0
My sister and I have joint and several LPA for my mother, aged 88, who has just been diagnosed with a relatively early stage mix of alzheimer's and vascular dementia. Her mental capacity comes and goes - much better in the afternoons than in the mornings, but it varies day to day. My mother lives with me in my house and in practice, I do all the paperwork and rarely see the need to discuss it with my sister who tends to go along with whatever I suggest anyway. Mum's house is currently on the market and the sale proceeds are going to be tucked away in case she needs to be in a care home in the future. At the moment, she pays half the gas, electricty and water bills for my home; half the petrol on the basis that I hardly use my car for myself and my mileage has significantly increased because of taking her out and about; the additional 25% council tax, although I understand she may not have to pay that because of her condition, ( it's one of the things I need to check); and half the food/cleaning materials bill, plus any clothes or other items that are specifically for her. I certainly don't charge her for any capital expenditure or maintenance on the house or car, other than fuel, and don't think it would be right to do so anyway. I keep a monthly record and go through it with her, making one transfer from her bank account to mine. Although I keep a note of the total for each item, I throw away all those bits of paper receipts once I've done the calculation. When she completely loses capacity to understand, do I need to start keeping receipts to keep the court of Protection happy - has anyone with an LPA been asked to provide accurate and detailed accounts?
Secondly, when she stays with my sister, she gives her a couple of hundred quid for the week or ten days to cover her food and petrol. Mum decided herself that she'd like to do that. Bearing in mind what she pays me is not much more than this sum each month and is accurately calculated, can she continue to do this when she is not able to understand what she is doing? Of should I ask my sister to keep accurate records and reimburse her the precise amount?
 

Beate

Registered User
May 21, 2014
12,179
0
London
If you were a deputy, you certainly would need to keep records. As an attorney, there is no real need to prove your expenditure unless someone starts accusing you of anything. From what you said, you manage her money well, but you are right, she ought to be exempt from council tax on the grounds of severe mental impairment. Usually she needs to be in receipt of Attendance Allowance or another qualifying allowance first. If she hasn't got that, you should apply for it for her.

If she still has some kind of capacity and it's her explicit wish to give your sister a certain amount of money, then I guess leave it be, but if there is any doubt about your mother's capacity regarding financial matters, I would talk to your sister. To be honest, I would talk to her anyway, because as an attorney she has to act in your mother's best interest as well and ought to see to it that Mum is not paying out more than she should. Is your sister aware how you calculate things? I really don't see how she can't do the same!
 

arielsmelody

Registered User
Jul 16, 2015
515
0
I don't know what levels of record keeping are required under an LPA but I've been self-employed working from home for quite a few years and keep records so that I can justify expenditure in case HMRC come and ask, and it couldn't hurt to use that as a guideline. If every month you sit down and work out half of all the bills, I would write it all your calculations down on one piece of paper (or spreadsheet, whatever works for you) and then file it away with the receipts. It shouldn't take any longer than what you are doing already, and you will have the reassurance of knowing you can refer back to your records if there are ever any questions.
 
Last edited:

Beetroot

Registered User
Aug 19, 2015
360
0
My sister knows how I work things out and is happy with it. Thanks giving me something to ponder Beate. AM, I am keeping a detailed record, but I chuck the actual receipts out when I have ticked them off against my credit card statement.
 

Pete R

Registered User
Jul 26, 2014
2,036
0
Staffs
My sister knows how I work things out and is happy with it. Thanks giving me something to ponder Beate. AM, I am keeping a detailed record, but I chuck the actual receipts out when I have ticked them off against my credit card statement.
That's what I do and is more than enough.:)
 

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