Father has dementia

[jayagee]

My father has recently been diagnosed with dementia. He has never had a bounced check in his life, until now. He has made some bad judgement purchases on his credit cards, a $10,000 dollar boat for one. He already has a boat. My question is, is there a way of preventing him from getting new credit cards, such as a red flag proceedure? I have power of attorney.

[SecretAgentWoman]

With power of attorney, yes, you should be able to put a freeze on all three of the CRAs saying they cannot give out his credit info without first express permission.

Maybe some of our more experienced people here can chime in...but I would contact all three right away and explain the situation.

[LadynRed]

Well, that depends on the type of POA you have. POA doesn't necessarily give you total authority over his finances.

Can you have his mail re-routed to a PO Box that you have a key to, so you can remove any card offers and monitor what's coming in ? IN addition, opt him out with all 3 CRA's to stop offers from coming at all.

I don't think there's any way you can prevent him from getting any new cards, not completely.

[jayagee]

Thank you ladies for your replies. As for the POA, it does give me total authority over his finances. Is there a "correct" procedure when contacting the CRA's or should I just call and hope for the best? This is quite a new experience for me. I have great respect for families that have had to deal with this issue. I am trying to do what's best for my dad dispite his anger concerning the situation. Of course he doesn't realize I'm doing what I'm doing in his best interest. Thanks again for your help...Jim

[Methuss]

You will have to submit your notice to the CRAs in writing because you will need to attach a certified copy of the POA. A phone call isn't going to cut it.

It may also be necessary to notify the bank he has his accounts with that checks need to be countersigned by you if they exceed a certain amount.

[CantCU]

Had to set up a POA account with the bank for my late FIL, who was giving his money to this "lady" friend he met. (won't go into all the details on this one but it was not fun for the family)

The bank set up a separate account in my FIL's name, but it was a POA account. He had NO signature authority on the account. He could not even go in and withdraw monies from his own account, nor could he write a check on the account.

With that said, was he diagnosed before of after he entered into these purchases? Is there a legal recourse for the family to say he was not competent to enter into these agreements?