Mum Terminally Ill
Discussion
My mum has hidden breast cancer from us for the past few years. I only found out 3 weeks ago and she has been told that there could only be a few weeks left.
She is old school and went to the local branch to do her banking business, paid a lot of things with either cash or a cheque and isn't set up for phone or internet banking.
She is currently in hospital and has a few financial things to deal with. She is struggling with pain and sleeps most of the time and would be confused with phone banking. How can I sort this out for her?
She is old school and went to the local branch to do her banking business, paid a lot of things with either cash or a cheque and isn't set up for phone or internet banking.
She is currently in hospital and has a few financial things to deal with. She is struggling with pain and sleeps most of the time and would be confused with phone banking. How can I sort this out for her?
You need a Power of Attorney. If she is sufficiently with it to agree it's relatively straightforward.
https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney
https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney
So sorry, really hope you've some support around you.
Does your Mum have a will? And, if so, are you the executor? With apologies for being blunt, the options would essentially be to attempt to set up the power of attorney as suggested above, or to deal with the financial affairs after your Mum has passed away. PoA is a reasonably complex thing, and can take some time to be approved and set up, it may or may not be worthwhile in your case.
Again; sorry for your situation.
Does your Mum have a will? And, if so, are you the executor? With apologies for being blunt, the options would essentially be to attempt to set up the power of attorney as suggested above, or to deal with the financial affairs after your Mum has passed away. PoA is a reasonably complex thing, and can take some time to be approved and set up, it may or may not be worthwhile in your case.
Again; sorry for your situation.
Southerner said:
So sorry, really hope you've some support around you.
Does your Mum have a will? And, if so, are you the executor? With apologies for being blunt, the options would essentially be to attempt to set up the power of attorney as suggested above, or to deal with the financial affairs after your Mum has passed away. PoA is a reasonably complex thing, and can take some time to be approved and set up, it may or may not be worthwhile in your case.
Again; sorry for your situation.
I'm sure a basic Power of Attorney can be drawn up quickly - you can download the papers online. The problem is likely to be the time lag while it then gets formally registered.Does your Mum have a will? And, if so, are you the executor? With apologies for being blunt, the options would essentially be to attempt to set up the power of attorney as suggested above, or to deal with the financial affairs after your Mum has passed away. PoA is a reasonably complex thing, and can take some time to be approved and set up, it may or may not be worthwhile in your case.
Again; sorry for your situation.
As mentioned above, probably best if you checked that a valid will has been drawn up.
Sorry, but I hope you can find a way forward that will ease the problems.
Thank you everyone. There is a will and a Power of Attorney, but they were drawn up before my dad died in 2019. Also everything is in my pre-married name, before I went double barrelled to match my daughter.
Could I not just set up internet banking on her behalf and do things that way?
Could I not just set up internet banking on her behalf and do things that way?
RosscoPCole said:
Thank you everyone. There is a will and a Power of Attorney, but they were drawn up before my dad died in 2019. Also everything is in my pre-married name, before I went double barrelled to match my daughter.
Could I not just set up internet banking on her behalf and do things that way?
I have set up internet banking for both grandparents & helped them with finances when they stopped being able to write cheques. It meant using their bank card with them & iPad. Could I not just set up internet banking on her behalf and do things that way?
Setting up New payees needed a card reader which took about a week to arrive
Edited by AndyAudi on Sunday 30th January 21:38
RosscoPCole said:
Thank you everyone. There is a will and a Power of Attorney, but they were drawn up before my dad died in 2019. Also everything is in my pre-married name, before I went double barrelled to match my daughter.
Could I not just set up internet banking on her behalf and do things that way?
Not really sure what you mean by 'just set up internet banking on her behalf' - it's her money so you still need to get authority to handle it.Could I not just set up internet banking on her behalf and do things that way?
Many years ago, banks used to have an 'Authorised Agent' facility which is, effectively, a less formal PoA for just that one account. Have a word with the bank.
Op so sorry to hear and hope you get the support needed
With POA I thought I would add that we are doing this now / have had the forms sent in early Nov21. Original timescale stated was 16 weeks+, the delay being due to covid / backlog etc. i
With my parents and parents in law both had grandparents bank account card so could draw out cash for them (they always liked cash / that generation), but also could do their online banking - they set up DD for everything
With POA I thought I would add that we are doing this now / have had the forms sent in early Nov21. Original timescale stated was 16 weeks+, the delay being due to covid / backlog etc. i
With my parents and parents in law both had grandparents bank account card so could draw out cash for them (they always liked cash / that generation), but also could do their online banking - they set up DD for everything
Sorry to hear your mum's situation OP. It must be a really tough time for you and your family.
As above, you need a power of attorney or a 3rd party authority in place to act on her behalf. The main issue with this will be getting the bank to register it on their system quickly.
Technically you could get her to set up online banking and then she give you the log on details. The main issue with this is how much interaction she would need with the bank to set this up. Potentially minimal but if she needed to speak to someone in the bank, and they got wind of her doing this to provide you access, then it will set off all kinds of alarm bells. She is vulnerable and they will assume you are up to no good.
Best option is definitely to make it official with a power of attorney or 3rd party authority.
As above, you need a power of attorney or a 3rd party authority in place to act on her behalf. The main issue with this will be getting the bank to register it on their system quickly.
Technically you could get her to set up online banking and then she give you the log on details. The main issue with this is how much interaction she would need with the bank to set this up. Potentially minimal but if she needed to speak to someone in the bank, and they got wind of her doing this to provide you access, then it will set off all kinds of alarm bells. She is vulnerable and they will assume you are up to no good.
Best option is definitely to make it official with a power of attorney or 3rd party authority.
Ungarsee said:
Technically you could get her to set up online banking and then she give you the log on details. The main issue with this is how much interaction she would need with the bank to set this up. Potentially minimal but if she needed to speak to someone in the bank….
Having just done this fairly recently - noneI sat next to my Grandma (in case we needed to phone) & registered her for online banking using her bank details & also long card number. There was a letter posted out to her address with a code that we then verified.
Check 1 being as well as having bank details we had the card,
check 2 used physical address
Thereafter full visibility online of all accounts & existing instructions. However no new instructions could be set up as required a card reader, requested online & received within days.
To set up a new beneficiary or instruction requires card reader & pin entry for 1st time only.
So check 3 was address/card & PIN number
RosscoPCole said:
Thank you everyone. There is a will and a Power of Attorney, but they were drawn up before my dad died in 2019. Also everything is in my pre-married name, before I went double barrelled to match my daughter.
Could I not just set up internet banking on her behalf and do things that way?
Yes, that is exactly what I would do. Obvious caveats apply and may not be relevant- if there are other family who could benefit from her estate they could interfere. I think you know what I mean. All the best Could I not just set up internet banking on her behalf and do things that way?
This could be confusing, to just about anyone.
Essentially, we have the formal way forward - Power of Attorney, perhaps a formal Authorised Agent. Both require the account holder to be in control of their senses at the time (but probably going to need help at some point in the future). The authority will die if the account holder dies (then needs a Grant of Probate).
The alternative is really a bit informal, often using internet banking (as others have indicated). This may well work in practice just as long as it's clearly what the account holder intended (pay gas bill , council tax etc - not buy a new car......) AND there's no other party in the family who could object.
If there is any likelihood of possible dispute I'd follow the formal route.
Essentially, we have the formal way forward - Power of Attorney, perhaps a formal Authorised Agent. Both require the account holder to be in control of their senses at the time (but probably going to need help at some point in the future). The authority will die if the account holder dies (then needs a Grant of Probate).
The alternative is really a bit informal, often using internet banking (as others have indicated). This may well work in practice just as long as it's clearly what the account holder intended (pay gas bill , council tax etc - not buy a new car......) AND there's no other party in the family who could object.
If there is any likelihood of possible dispute I'd follow the formal route.
Vasco said:
This could be confusing, to just about anyone.
Essentially, we have the formal way forward - Power of Attorney, perhaps a formal Authorised Agent. Both require the account holder to be in control of their senses at the time (but probably going to need help at some point in the future). The authority will die if the account holder dies (then needs a Grant of Probate).
The alternative is really a bit informal, often using internet banking (as others have indicated). This may well work in practice just as long as it's clearly what the account holder intended (pay gas bill , council tax etc - not buy a new car......) AND there's no other party in the family who could object.
If there is any likelihood of possible dispute I'd follow the formal route.
Thanks to all for the advice. Vasco, this seems like the most obvious route. Mum has all her faculties and I am an only child, so no other party could object. Essentially, we have the formal way forward - Power of Attorney, perhaps a formal Authorised Agent. Both require the account holder to be in control of their senses at the time (but probably going to need help at some point in the future). The authority will die if the account holder dies (then needs a Grant of Probate).
The alternative is really a bit informal, often using internet banking (as others have indicated). This may well work in practice just as long as it's clearly what the account holder intended (pay gas bill , council tax etc - not buy a new car......) AND there's no other party in the family who could object.
If there is any likelihood of possible dispute I'd follow the formal route.
I'm going through LPA with my parents and it's currently taking them a couple of months from the notice of application to the registration so I don't think it would be a viable option in this case.
We never went through LPA with my grandad, and thankfully we never needed to, but my uncle (his son and was an accountant) was down as a second name on my grandad's bank account (don't know what that is called) but it meant that, even following my grandad's death, the account was still active so my uncle was able to continue to make payments from it (I don't think it was a joint bank account but maybe that's what it was). Perhaps this is the route you need to take, albeit the online banking version?
We never went through LPA with my grandad, and thankfully we never needed to, but my uncle (his son and was an accountant) was down as a second name on my grandad's bank account (don't know what that is called) but it meant that, even following my grandad's death, the account was still active so my uncle was able to continue to make payments from it (I don't think it was a joint bank account but maybe that's what it was). Perhaps this is the route you need to take, albeit the online banking version?
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