Loveyou2, the person in the position to legally help manage the finances is their financial PoA. You profile provides lots of good info about your parents. They seem very independent are becoming less so. You can have a casual conversation with them and explain how you can help simplify daily living by paying bills online and setting up auto BillPay, etc. Show them what this looks like on a phone or laptop so they can see you trust it, and explain how it ensures their critical expenses get paid and policies don't lapse, etc. Or, they may be very resistant to it, which is very common and requires a different strategy, needing the direct management of the financial PoA.
Hopefully you (or a trusted person) is currently their durable PoA. When me and my husband were discovering the extent of his parents' cognitive issues, one of us would take them out of the house on a ruse, the other would go into the house and make sure mail was being collected and opened (no), bills were being paid (no), things looked like they were under control (no). I found literally dozens of boxes of blank checks that they must have kept ordering thinking they were out but just not remembering where they stashed them. Their checkbook registers were completely screwed up and the bank statement indicated $930 in overdrafts. My MIL twice told me her "purse was stolen" (it wasn't, she misplaced it) and that my stepFIL had withdrawn $1500 in cash at the bank in the grocery store and he was "pickpocketed" (no, he wasn't). It was spiraling out of control pretty fast and my stepFIL was very resistant to help but MIL allowed it since my hubs was her durable PoA. I strongly recommend you have that chat with them and see where it stands. Also, their driving abilities needs to be watched very closely so they can be kept safe, as well as others on the road. I wish you all the best -- let us know how it goes!
To legally take over their finances requires you to be named their general durable (financial) POA. They would have to agree to that and it can be done with an elder care attorney, preferably. You would become their fiduciary which means all of the financial decisions must be made in their best interest. It becomes effective on the date it is signed. Discuss with them the benefits of your managing their finances.
But don't stop there. Create a healthcare POA also which will allow you make their medical decisions when they are unable to.
If you are already their POA, you already have the authority to manage their finances.
Hopefully you (or a trusted person) is currently their durable PoA. When me and my husband were discovering the extent of his parents' cognitive issues, one of us would take them out of the house on a ruse, the other would go into the house and make sure mail was being collected and opened (no), bills were being paid (no), things looked like they were under control (no). I found literally dozens of boxes of blank checks that they must have kept ordering thinking they were out but just not remembering where they stashed them. Their checkbook registers were completely screwed up and the bank statement indicated $930 in overdrafts. My MIL twice told me her "purse was stolen" (it wasn't, she misplaced it) and that my stepFIL had withdrawn $1500 in cash at the bank in the grocery store and he was "pickpocketed" (no, he wasn't). It was spiraling out of control pretty fast and my stepFIL was very resistant to help but MIL allowed it since my hubs was her durable PoA. I strongly recommend you have that chat with them and see where it stands. Also, their driving abilities needs to be watched very closely so they can be kept safe, as well as others on the road. I wish you all the best -- let us know how it goes!
But don't stop there. Create a healthcare POA also which will allow you make their medical decisions when they are unable to.
If you are already their POA, you already have the authority to manage their finances.