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I was just appointed as my Aunt's Durable POA for financial and healthcare.
I took all the POA paper work to her bank as I was told to do.The banker told me I now have control of my Aunt's life.You now have full accsess to your Aunt's accounts.To me that sounds a little harsh but,that's just what I was told by the banker.That's where I'm ate today.I haven't done anything else.

I need to know what I can and can not do as a POA of financials?I never done this stuff before.
To help you all better understand ,I think it would be best for me to explan what I would like to do with my Aunt's bank accounts.

(1):Request to have my Aunt's bank statements sent to my home address?
Reason for this is because,of my Aunt's dementia as forgetting where she puts things ect.
(2):Request past bank statements?Reason for this is so I can find out what bills has been paid ect.
(3):Request a debit card from my Aunt's bank?Reason for this is because,I'm not the check writing type of person.As my Aunt writes checks as most all elderly people still do these days.To me checks take timely to clear the bank and causes,problems with account balunce.I use online banking & debit cards because,they are simple to use and fast to pay bills.

(4):Can I transfer funds from one account to another?
(5):Can I transfer funds from my Aunt's account to my bank account as another bank?
If I could simply transfer example,$2,000 into my account.Would make easier accsess for me when my Aunt needs cash.As of now when my Aunt needs cash she must write a check.Then I have to take my time going to her bank to cash it everytime.

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My Aunt never had children.My Uncle "Her husbend" past away 10 plus Yrs ago.That's one of the reason why to have children.So,when you get old hopefully your children will take good care of you.Throughout the past yrs a few family members took advantage of my Aunt.They would get close to my Aunt as friendly and all just so they can get the Aunt to give them money using excuses to obtain money from my Aunt.As example "Help I need a new car or I lost my job can't pay the bills".Once they got their cash you wouldn't see hied or hair of them.My got tired of them asking for money and in turn stop visiting her.So,she moreless wrote those people off.I've talked to other family members about my Aunt.They all agree and feel that those people that got money from my Aunt may have drained the Aunt dry.Is why they don't want a thing to do with her anymore.
Prior of my Aunt changing her Living Will.I was told by her attorney to get together with her family to make sure this is what the Aunt wants.So,I attempted to contact her next of kins.No answer by phone only voice mails.I left messages on their voice mail explaining what's going on and for them to contact me.I never recieved a responce from them.I attempted 3 times without a responce.So,I can truely say I tried and they all know I called and attempted.Years ago when my Aunt was active in good health she was known as a wealthy lady.She sold Avon, won the Pink Cadilac twice during the 70's & 80's from being the one with the most sales.I haven't went to her bank to ask for a bank statement printout to know if my Aunt is broke.She may as well be who knows.That would explain why knowone wants a thing to do with her.They could have all drained her dry.I may just be the feller left to take out the trash they made.
Sounds harsh to say above but,true.This isn't my Mother or Father.My Mother & Father past yrs ago.I agreed to take this POA job because,know one else was willing to step up to the plate.From taking off from work to help my Aunt to missing time for my own family & friends to help my Aunt becomes a problem.
Sometimes I feel like just giving up.Sometimes a nurcing home sounds good for me?
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See if you can regularly help her with the bills and keep a close eye on what she is doing. For a several months, Mom kept her checkbook in the assisted living and would have me bring the bills and write the checks out for her to sign. At some point I showed her how I was doing it online and brought print outs and she didn't feel the need to do it herself any more. I don't think she ever liked beign the one to pay the bills, but took over when Dad wasn't doing a good job any more. You might tell your aunt you want to learn how she does her bills so you can take care of things if she is ever not feeling well or in the hospital, and try to make it into a regular routine.

You are right, you probably can't take the checkbook away at this point, but you might get QVC cards or the like somewhere for safe keeping.
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Her doc most likely will not tell her to stop doing anything. It is your job as POA to monitor her business and health. Most likely she will probably forget to pay bills, buy something from a flyer that comes in the mail or from an ad on tv. She will forget to call in refills on meds, forget appointments, etc. It is a big job especially in the beginning when you need to figure out what her health and financial situations are.

Good luck.
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I contacted the bank today asking the banker if I did everything correct.I was worried if I acted to soon turning in the POA paperwork to the bank.The banker told me no you did everything correct.He stated your setup on your aunt's account with full access.So,when she does get worse your'll be ready to act on her behalf with her accounts.
I haven't went to her bank to ask for statements yet.
My aunt still pays her own bills as writing out checks and sends them in by mail to pay bills on her own.I don't have her check book she does.I really don't think she will give me her check book to hold on to.She still feels she is on her own doing her thing.She is legally able to make her own judgement.I can't force her to do a thing.Until she is told by a doctor.Moreless I'm on the waiting game for her to get worse on things I guess.As POA it's my job to keep track of funds on record to cover my butt.But,if my aunt is writing checks on her own I have not a clue what checks she writes and when she writes them.I don't live with her to know every minute what she does.When I need to cash a check for her I was told I need to write on the checks by john doe POA example.That's fine.but,what about the checks my aunt writes I don't know about?The only way for me to know what checks she writes is seeing her bank statements.It's her money she can spend how ever she desires legally until told by a doctor.So,when to I need to start keeping track of her spending?Now or after she is told by a doctor she can't do these things on her own?I don't have control of her check book my aunt has that at all times it's her check book.If I take it from her she can call the cops on me for that.Any advice?
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ALL good thoughts. Bless you!

You may find once you set up the online access for your aunt's account that you can get old statements for at least 6 or maybe even 12 months, it varies.
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Thank you vstefans for your helpful advice. From what I just read online about do's & don'ts as POA. As a POA I'm told your not allowed to barrow from your love one, Give a gift or donation. Your also, not allowed to have your name on your love ones account as joint account. And last to keep record of every penny spent .
With that said above,
For me personally, writing checks is a big pain for me. Every check requires taking a trip to the bank to do so for me to get cash for my Aunt for her spending money. As example, when my Aunt want's $300 for food, house hold supplies and left over spending money. Requires a check to take to the bank to cash to do so. If I had a debit card to use would make things alot easier for me. I don't live with my Aunt.She 86 yrs old and lives on her own in her own home. My Aunt has dementia and she is in denial that she has dementia. She has her good days and bad days. On bad days she can be very hateful to me. I just try to stay away on her bad days I learned. The only reason I'm her POA is because, the attorney told me she needs a POA. There is no other family member welling to step forward to help her but, me. I'm all she has in other words.I try my best .
Theres many things I would like to see her have as life alert is a great example.
I talked to her about getting life alert she says too much money. She's hard headed and tight with her money. She has the money to spend but, she don't want to spend a dime if she has her way.I'm not out to spend her money. I just want to make life easier for her.I can setup all of her bills to be paid automatically as auto bill pay. Wouldn't that be nice not worring about when to pay a bill at 86 yrs old.I hate the thought of writing checks. Writing checks is the past now days few if none do that anymore. I don't own a check book. I pay all my bills and shopping with debit and online banking because, it's fast and simple. Using online banking & debit cards the banks record each transaction using both. Shopping using a debit card all you need to remember is to save all shopping receipts. Understanding it's best not to use a ATM. But, when the Aunt wants money she wants money. And I can get cash faster from a ATM then driving to the bank waiting in a line.
I understand do not transfer bank accounts from one another. I won't attempt that just a thought is all.
What I want to do is get a copy of her bank statements as far back as I can.
I'm also, affraid that some one may try to take advantage of my Aunt by having my Aunt write them a check to obtain money. I would like to setup a monthly spending limit on her account for that reason. I don't have my Aunt's check book she has that. Theres many elderly people out there that writes check for anyone in need. As easy to be tooken advantage of by using checks.Is why I hate using checks. My Aunt is competent to make her own decisions at this time. But, soon is coming she won't be.Dementia is a bad, sad thing to watch.
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psteigman, are you sure the debit card is a bad idea as long as you document well? I had one, with my own PIN number...or at least one that was for an account with both my and my mom's name on it, that I had to have to move money from Dad's Social Security representative payee account (I had to get rep payee as well as POA for him- didn't even know I needed that til the nursing home tried to get it). I did not use it much, I think more to make deposits, but mom's second assisted living place required cash for their personal spending money. So that was all documented by me and automatically by the assisted living people. I agree completely with not transferring money out to one's own account, it's shocking how many tales we have on here of how many people seem to get away with it, but it at a minimum could create an appearance of wrongdoing. And probably the honest person doing it for only convenience reasons rather than theft is the one who will get investigated.
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NO do not get a debit card or transfer anything into your account. These are the kind of mistakes that land people in jail. You pay her bills from her accounts and be sure you can detail every penny spent. If you can't account for EVERY PENNY SPENT, and she needs to go into a nursing home, Medicaid will impose a penalty for every missing penny.
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If I were you I'd get online access set up first. Keep good records of everything you spend money for her on. I would not transfer money out to your account, I would keep it separate, unless you have a written contract paying you for managing or caregiving. You should be able to get a debit card with a PIN to get cash for your aunt that way; it would be wise to keep the amounts small and keep some accounting of what the cash goes for if you can. If you do end up writing checks for your aunt, you sign them as your name, POA for aunt's name.

Make sure you have copies of the POA handy - for my parents', I kept originals in a safe place, made paper copies that I usually carried with me, and also scanned them in as PDF and kept them online in my Dropbox. Do that for the healthcare POA if you have that as well. Probably, it is also wise to have physician's letters documenting her incapacity on file; for certain things that are more major, banks or real estate people may ask you to demonstrate that the POA is fully in effect, and also, if someone tries to talk you aunt into changing it after she has been documented as not having full capacity, that should be strong evidence against that being valid, even though you are not her guardian.

That may seem paranoid if there is no one else likely to try to get POA to take advantage, but after being on here awhile and reading the stories, I can oly say that you are not paranoid if someone really is out to get you. Things seem to come up out of the blue sometimes. Take some time and find all the papers and policies she may have, get them organized, and maybe make your own copies too. This is a big responsibility, being in charge of someone's finances, and you want to do it well and not only for their sake and to be sure they can always have good care and a good environment, but to keep yourself above reproach!

Finally, you may even want to use a little of the money to get a good eldercare or long-term planning consultation, especially if Medicaid may eventually be needed.

You are wise and compassionate to be asking and learning more about this and how it should work. I remember when it was all new to me and what a steep learning curve it was. I wish you both well!
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