Mom is newly admitted to a nursing home. Her cognitive state is awful. She never set up a POA. While mom has been in, my sister and I have been keeping up on her bills by logging into her accounts and paying them. I read an article this morning that says this is actually a Federal offense. Is this true? Are we supposed to just let her bills go into collections while we figure out permanent placement for her? She already has nothing. Collections would make her options even more slim.
If she has subscriptions, such as a newspaper, cancel it. Get rid of any other bill that no longer needs to be paid. Example: When my parents started their decline and I started managing things, I found a couple of landlines that hadn't been active in years, for which they were paying rent on phones they still had. Also a house alarm that hadn't worked for about a decade and parts were no longer available; they were still paying the security company. Other things too. You can't make this stuff up.
HOWEVER - and here is something that you and your sister are going to have to discuss - if mom is cognitively declining, is there a CHANCE that she is going to falsely accuse you of taking money from her account? What sort of safeguards do you and your sister have set up against that? Because a complaint from her MIGHT trigger a visit from APS.
For instance, if you think there is a chance she could make an accusation - and this is not an uncommon thing to happen when an elderly person loses cognitive function- then being able to show money coming in and going out of mom's account to pay for mom's bills would be your first defense. "Here is her SS payment of $xxx amount being deposited on June 1; here is a payment for her electric bill on June 7 for $xxx, a payment for her health insurance on June 9 for $xxx" etc. Unless they SPECIFICALLY ask you of you are "authorized" to log into mom's account, I would not say anything one way or another. If you can show mom's money being used for mom's care, then that should end any sort of investigation in its tracks.
But if, for instance, you buy things for mom from, say Amazon, and then reimburse yourself from her funds, you need to have much more detailed records. Or if you grocery shop for both you and her, and just split the groceries down the middle, you need to show her share of the groceries. And even then, these are not things that would trigger a Federal investigation. When the Feds get involved in something like this with bank accounts, they're looking for a RICO case, not an elderly, cognitively impaired person with little to no assets whose children are paying her bills from her account while she is incapacitated. At the most, it might trigger an APS/local LEO investigation, and that would most likely come after an allegation is made, hence my question about your mom.
APS understands that bills have to be paid, and in this world that is more and more digital and dealing less with cash and checks every day, it is not uncommon for kids to pay their parents' bills online from that parent's account.
Real question here may be about the future. What recovery is expected or is this accident/illness permanently mind altering. In which case there is going to need to be some sort of conservatorship if there is no will with a spring POA in it.
What I asked was if you or sister or both are on Moms accounts as authorized users. If so, no problem. Having access to her accts via internet is not the same thing as being on her accts.
There are 3 basic care facilities we talk about her. Those we call Assisted Living and Memory care are privately owned. They do no skilled nursing. They assist in ADLs. Als the resident should be relatively independent. Some can come and go as they wish. Its a residence. MC is a step up where its a lock down facility with extra help but still not skilled nursing. Again a residence. Its for those suffering from a Dementia. Both of these are private pay. Medicaid rarely pays for them. Some States offer vouchers but may be a while before you find an AL or MC that has a Medicaid room.
Then there is Long-term care also called a Nursing Home or Skilled Nursing. If a person is deamed 24/7 care Medicaid will pay for this but a bed has to be available. Also, your Social Security and any pension your received needs to be used for your care. Since Mom has no money, this is where she would need to go. These facilities are monitored by the State more strictly by the state.
Let the government go after the scammers who are out there devising ways to separate vulnerable adults from their money and leave the honest people who are trying to be decent to their LOs alone.
Then no one can collect by filing against her because they cannot touch SS or SSDI. She is "bullet proof". You would send a notice to all entities billing her and sending letters, calling, that she is currently ill and receiving medical care.
While she is in the Nursing Home contact the admins. Because as you will know, even for admissions to care, she will need a POA or guardian/conservator. Often there is a social worker available to help you get emergency temporary guardianship. They can sometimes make a call to a judge of the Courts and ask for this for one of you. These papers, when you have them, would be presented to the bank so that you could be added as a signatory to make payments for your mother.
You would be BEST to see an Elder Law Attorney to see how to proceed if this sudden mental swing will now be the norm for your mother.
As to bills, credit and etc.? At this point your mother cannot use and does not require a good credit score.
The filial laws that state family must take care of an elderly parent;
The Federal Banking Laws that state you cannot login to Mom's account.
What do you want to do?
Keep the money there so an identity thief can take it?
Keep the money there so she no longer qualifies for a Medicaid bed in a NH
because she has too much cash?
Keep the money there so the NH can take it, assigning themselves POA to receive her funds?
See an attorney.
Try to remember that "No good deed goes unpunished".
Do good deeds anyway.
I love that you asked your question anyway! It shows you have character and ethics.
A judge will assign a 3rd party guardian and probably apply for Medicaid for her.
Don't worry about collections, especially if she "has nothing". If she's now in a nursing home (or rehab?), what bills are still being paid? Her credit rating won't have any meaning anymore since I don't think facilities check credit ratings before accepting new residents.
Since your Mom doesn't have a PoA do not sign any paperwork for payment unless you really want to be responsible for that large, monthly bill.
I'm not worried about collections. You can't get water from a stone. I'm just trying to verify if what I read was correct.