For aging parents who were responsible enough to do estate planning, the lawyer who put their will and trust together had them appoint a power of attorney for finances (POA). If they picked you to do that, it’s likely no one gave you an instruction book to go with the role. Serving as the one who takes on responsibility for your elder’s money can be daunting. Sometimes the very person who appointed you makes things quite difficult.
Here at AgingParents.com, where we offer our expertise on age-related legal and healthcare issues to families, we hear the frustrations. Some aging parents appoint the son or daughter to assume responsibility when/if they become impaired. Then they refuse to allow the appointed person to actually do the job. After all, it means giving up control and all too many elders just don’t want to let go. In the cases we see arising from this issue, the elder in question has either been diagnosed with dementia, or “mild cognitive impairment” or has the symptoms of those, even if not formally diagnosed. That means that their financial judgment is impaired and they are far more likely than an unimpaired person to make financial mistakes.
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