When someone close to you is experiencing memory loss, there’s a lot for you to think about. Aside from helping your loved one maintain a healthy routine and stay safe, you’ll also want to keep their financial status in mind. The reality is that aging comes with many costs. To ensure that your friend or family member can pay for a home and all the basics they may be accustomed to, you may want to take certain steps to protect them financially. Keep reading to learn more about four strategies that could prove useful.
1. Set Up a Power of Attorney
If someone needs help with financial decisions, a power of attorney can be a useful tool. Setting up a power of attorney for a loved one will allow you or a designated person to make decisions on that person’s behalf. A power of attorney is a legal document that can be customized according to a particular situation. For example, some power of attorney documents stipulate that other people can make decisions for them for a certain period of time, such as when they’re traveling overseas. In other situations, power of attorney documents can be valid for as long as necessary. They can be made durable, which means that they’ll be effective even if a person becomes incapacitated.
In the case of memory loss, it makes sense to have a durable power of attorney. A power of attorney agreement can cover health-related decisions or financial ones. It could be a good idea for your loved one to have both types. Regarding financial concerns, the designee would be able to manage bank accounts, investments, and properties.
2. Require Two Signatures on Checks
Modifying a bank account can be a smart move. You can set up a joint bank account for your loved one, adding yourself or another responsible party to the account. You may be able to set up a system in which two signatures are required on checks. That way, another person will have to sign any check that’s written. This adds another layer of protection for someone with memory loss.
3. Automate Things
Bills can accumulate, and you don’t want your loved one to get behind on them. To ensure that bills are paid each month, think about having them automated. You can set up automatic payments for credit cards, phones, internet services, car payments, insurance payments, and mortgages. If these bills aren’t paid on time, coverage could lapse which could make interest could start to add up.
4. Track Spending
Another way to protect your loved one is to track their spending. Gather information about all of their accounts and then keep track of what’s going in and what’s going out each month. You may be able to do this on your own, either the old-fashioned way with paper and pencil or with computer software. Companies have also developed apps that make it easy to track financial transactions. These apps can notify you regarding fraud alerts or anything out of the ordinary.