I'm an only child and live about 4 hours away. My Dad needs help with his finances. How do I get his invoices sent to my house. My Dad got in a financial bind and wasn't watching his finances and writing checks left and right. I asked him if he wants me to take over his finances. How do I do that being so far away. I am on his bank accounts as joint owner and have access to online banking.
You will have to have access to his bank account(s)
You can have all the bills sent to your email address.
You should have POA for his finances to do this properly.
Almost all bills can be done "auto pay" if you want where it is direct debited or you can have a credit card that all bills are paid that way automatically and then you pay the credit card. You can monitor the accounts both from the card and from the on line statements. (some companies are charging a fee for the credit card charge though so ask about that)
Then if necessary, you can have all his mail go to your home by going online and having his forwarded to your home. Or, set up a PO box at your local Post Office and have it sent there. You can't really officially change the addresses on certain bills without a problem (like utilities) so I don't see any other way of doing this. Many will offer paperless billing so won't need to be mailed at all. I hardly get any paper bills anymore. Just make sure you have a solid password keeping app.
Then, if I were you I'd remove all blank checks and checkbooks from his home. When we first discovered that my MIL was having memory issues, we found boxes and boxes and boxes of checkbooks she had ordered because she didn't remember where she'd put them. She didn't have anything written in any of the multiple check registers she had started so she had over $900 of overdraft charges.
Consider removing his existing credit cards. You can give him a pre-paid, reloadable cc so he can do some shoppinig of his own, but no debit card unless the connected account has very little money in it. Scammers and phishers are a big concern with the elderly -- even for our LOs who would "never" fall for such things in prior years.
To prevent future problems you should legally be his FPoA. Do this before he is beyond being cognitively or physically capable. You will need it for any investments he has.
That's one of my concerns now if I pay a bill and he pays it too.
My Dad had over $300 in NSF fees in Sept. His account is back in the green now. I got both POAs and am on his bank accounts this year. Just wasn't sure how to get the statements sent to my address. Setting up the accounts to pay would be easy and paying them. I didn't realize that you should get rid of his credit cards and checks. My Dad doesn't have a debit card. He pays usually with cash, check or credit card.
It was so easy to change the address. I would just go into the various billing accounts, set up on-line viewing and changed over to my address as the "billing address" which would be different from "service address" for utilities.
I would pay by using Dad's checks, we had it set up with the bank where I could be a signature on his checking account. It would be easier to do you set up a time to visit your Dad, and the both of you go to the bank. If you are Dad's Power of Attorney, that would be even better, as the bank will scan the POA into their files.
When a bill came in, I would write a check and make a copy of the check to attach it to the invoice. Have to keep good records in case in the future your Dad need to apply for Medicaid [which is different from Medicare].
Or you can set up auto-pay where payments are placed on one of Dad's credit cards, and then all those auto-pay are paid via one check or payment could be pulled from Dad's checking or savings account. It all depends on what you are comfortable with doing.
It's not unusual to run into snags trying to set up on-line banking. I've been trying for months to set up a checking account that I have had for decades, but the software kept trying to give me a brand new checking account which I didn't want. Even going to the bank face to face with a bank rep didn't help.... [sigh].
I got a couple of adobe scans of bills that he owes. Of course some are ones almost paid off which is good.
I had hoped to be able to call the credit cards and get my name on the accounts so I can talk to them when I need to. That didn't happen this past weekend.
This past year, I went to the bank with my Dad and verified that I was on the accounts and became joint owner over by Dad's accounts. I also got both POA's this year. This year, need to get everything set up to do online banking and start paying his bills. He has a farm and has an bank account for the farm. I have noticed that he has been using both accounts for whatever.
I have spent a lot of time on the phone with some of his creditors. It's nuts!
We spoke to someone about a Medicaid Trust. I told my Dad that I think we need to do this. I need to contact that person again.
My Mom would have probably set up the credit cards long ago. They don't have anything online. I'll check into this.
Please pick up a copy of the book, Understanding the Dementia Experience by Jennifer Ghent Fuller. She'll explain in detail and plain English what dad is going thru and what the future looks like. She's got great tips to help you deal with his deficits, too.
Then make an appointment with a Certified Elder Care attorney to help you get all your legal ducks in a row. Get info about selling the farm when he needs care and how to go about paying for that care, in home or in Memory Care Assisted Living if need be. Be prepared.
You can also hire an Occupational therapist to evaluate dad's home environment and recommend safety measures to institute for his protection. It's never too soon to do that once dementia is underway.
Wishing you the best of luck.