Mom has me listed on checking account and now have POA finances. MOM in AL 1 1/2 month now...my disabled brother who has helped my Mom and she helped him lives in her house...How do I sign checks for household bills
and AL bills? Lots of bills each month. I feel like I could use an accountant, between hospital bills from the last 9 months and all my Mom's finances...and also house expenses which brother pays for part of with the little he gets a month. Any suggestions on how to keep organized? BILLS, BILLS, BiLLS, who said getting old was the golden age....IT IS THE AGE OF BEING ROBBED OF ANYTHING YOU HAVE LEFT.
Hospital bills were my Mom and Dad's biggest mess too. My mom probably paid thousands that she did not owe, because so many come through straight to you before insurance has paid and they had a screwy situation with dad's work-related insurance which was a coordinated program between BC/BS and Medicare and not on the usual web sites. Its a lot of work, but it is one of the greatest services you can provide to your loved one when they can't do it themselves. I only wish my Mom had gotten help with it BEFORE she took out a home equity loan and was unable to navigate my Dad's second Medicaid application...we'd have had about 14k more funding for her care and I wouldn't have been on the phone with an appeals hearing officer while I was on call for the inpatient unit where I work!
So I have to coordinate those bills. Hospital bills from last 8 months are none stop
because mom in and out of several hospitals....Mom ANxiety, depression, dementia and ALZ alwithin the last few months and several different meds and doctors, hospitals....Mom has become a fourth class citizen with no control and
absolutely miserable..This was an high functioning independent person only a few months ago handling her own affairs not owing any debt. ANy advice? What is going to happen next?
I am a joint owner on my mom's checking account just to make it easier to pay bills (otherwise I would need to carry POA paperwork all the time and show it every time I write a check), but I keep only enough to pay the monthly bills in this account, and NEVER mingle any of my personal funds. All savings accounts, CDs, etc are titled in my mom's name with me as POA.
I have separate folders and a separate small filing cabinet for my mom's stuff. I keep anything with tax consequences in a folder marked "taxes" which makes it easier come filing season. I also have folders marked "banking", "medical" and "misc".