How Do I Stop Mom or Dad From Writing Checks or Making Poor Financial Decisions?

Quick Answer

A power of attorney does not do it. A POA gives your agent authority to act alongside your parent, but it does not take away your parent’s own authority. While they have capacity they can keep writing checks, and the only way to remove that ability is a court conservatorship, which is a serious step.

The limitation nobody explains

This is the single most common misunderstanding about powers of attorney, and families discover it at the worst moment.

A durable power of attorney is additive. It gives your agent the power to act. It does not subtract anything from your parent.

So mom can still write checks, still answer the phone to a scammer, still hand money to somebody at the door. You now have authority too. You do not have authority *instead of* her.

What you can actually do without going to court

Talk to the bank. Many institutions will set alerts on large or unusual transactions, and some offer view-only access for a family member. Ask specifically what monitoring is available.

Reduce what is reachable. Move the bulk of savings to an account your parent does not carry a card for, leaving a working balance in the account they use day to day. This is often the single most effective step, and it does not require anybody’s permission if your parent agrees.

Lower card limits, and remove cards that are not needed.

Register for scam-call blocking, and put the landline on a call-screening service.

Watch the mail. Sweepstakes letters, charity solicitations, and grandparent-scam calls cluster around the same households.

Ask your parent to agree to a spending plan while they still can. Many will, when it is framed as protection rather than removal.

Where a trust helps and a POA does not

If assets are held in a properly funded revocable living trust, and your parent has resigned as trustee or a successor trustee has taken over, control genuinely sits with the trustee.

That is one of the practical reasons a trust does something a power of attorney cannot in this situation.

When conservatorship becomes the answer

Where somebody is actively losing significant money and will not or cannot stop, a conservatorship is the tool that removes financial authority. A court appoints someone to manage the person’s finances, and the person loses the right to manage them.

That is not a small thing. It is a court proceeding, a physician’s certificate, formal notice to family, a hearing, and often years of reporting to the court afterward. It is public, and it takes rights away from your parent.

We do not reach for it first, and sometimes it is genuinely the right answer, particularly where exploitation is happening.

The exploitation question

If someone is actively taking advantage, act faster.

Georgia has adult protective services, banks have fraud departments, and there are legal remedies. Do not let embarrassment on your parent’s part delay a call, because shame is what keeps these situations going.

Have the documents before you need them

A properly drafted power of attorney does not solve this problem, and it solves the next one, which is somebody being able to act when your parent no longer can.

If your parent still has capacity, get the documents in place now.

Your next step

Schedule a complimentary 15-minute Strategy Session at 404-549-5001.

More is on our Alzheimer’s Care Planning page.

Related questions

• Is planning for a person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia different than traditional estate planning?
• What is a Financial Power of Attorney?
• No power of attorney and a parent who cannot decide: what are the options?
• What will happen if I become incapacitated or die without any estate planning?

This page is presented for educational purposes only and nothing on it should be treated as legal advice. What applies to you is very fact specific to your situation and your family. Our attorneys are licensed in Georgia and Michigan. This area of law has frequent statutory and policy changes.

   

Looking to find an experienced estate lawyer in the Georgia area who is skilled in asset protection and estate plan preparation? Shannon Pawley is an attorney in Georgia with expertise in estate planning and asset protection. Shannon can provide assistance with creating an estate plan to include making a will and how to establish a trust properly. If you have questions about asset protection or questions about making an estate plan, reach out to Shannon and she will be glad to help answer all the estate planning questions you might have!