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My mum has gone into a home and it’s paid for by the state.
She has a joint post office account with my step dad.
Her pension and winter fuel payments go into this account, which my step dad is keeping for himself.
My mum has recently had a great grandson and would like to buy him a gift. She would like to buy the staff little thank yous. She would just like some money in her purse to feel like a normal person.
We can’t access any money on her behalf and talking to stepdad is not going to happen.
How can we get her a bank account? She can’t leave the home and has no driving licence , credit card or passport.
This is the bit to change which account the pension is paid into.
https://www.gov.uk/contact-pension-service/report-changes
I'd suggest taking her to the Post Office where she has the joint account, if you can, to setup a new sole account.
It also sounds like there's some criminality which needs to be addressed.
The usual questions around Power of Attorney also apply.
Good luck.
She already has access to the joint account or can she no longer access it for some reason? Could she just give you her bank card and get you to pop down to the cashpoint?
As far as I know if the care costs are paid by the state then they also take her pension apart from a small amount for small purchses. At least that is how it worked for my MIL.
A bit of fraud by the step dad?
I’d suggest taking her to the Post Office where she has the joint account, if you can, to setup a new sole account.
+1 but not sure if possible as OP says she can't leave the home?
FYI if the joint account is not in credit she won't be able remove herself from that account unilaterally either.
Could she just give you her bank card and get you to pop down to the cashpoint?
She doesn't have a card and before going into the home hadn't been out of the house for years.
They very much came from the era of the man doing the money side of things.
They very much came from the era of the man doing the money side of things.
It wasn't an "era" as I in my family it's always been the other way around, going back generations.
But to answer your question, I'd split this in two:
1 Your Mum wants a bit of cash in her purse
2 Your StepDad may be up to no good, or we could be talking pennies after the care deductions.
To deal with the most pressing issue, just give her £50 in fivers - she's your Mum.
The other can be dealt with without her involvement.
This is a tricky one. Is her husband not to be trusted and do you have concerns that he has full control of their money and everything else?
Aside from the concerns you have with your step father, it does feel that you're suggesting some independence financially is good for your mum.
I'm pretty sure that Bank of Scotland used to go into my grandparents care home once a month to reach vulnerable customers there. This was 15 years ago - but there's an outside chance one of the banks still does this.. Perhaps more on the mutual side such as Nationwide or a local mutual Building Society?
Edit: as ever, Citizens Advice or Age UK will likely be able to advise well.
If she has some kind of documentation/ID, I think some of the challenger banks (Starling/Monzo etc) will open an account online?
When my mum was in a care home I used to buy sweets and chocolates to give to her to pass on to the staff. Strangely enough she got really good service, just buy a selection of choc bars, your mum can give them to whoever helps. Word soon spreads, she 'll get many visits.
This is a tricky one. Is her husband not to be trusted and do you have concerns that he has full control of their money and everything else?
He has always been tight with the money. They (he) have well over £100k in savings but he lives like a pauper. Even though mum's care is being paid for he's fretting about the costs.
Frustrating for you. If you're able to visit regularly then in an ideal world you'd have access to her bank card and make cash withdrawals for her. I'd be inclined to get some specialist advice on this, not least to avoid any future misunderstandings and conflict. Your Mum still has a say on everything, just because he's taken over household and financial matters does not mean that he can do exactly what he wants. You need to advocate for her, even if it means communicating with him.
I think but not sure that the state no longer takes most of your basic pension - however with large savings she should not be state funded - so thats possibly fraud.<br /><br />Its also possibly financial abuse
As above - give her £50 to stop her fretting now but take proper advice - something smells fishy here
however with large savings she should not be state funded
It may be their savings but it's all in his account.
TJ
Paying for care in a care home if you have a partner (ageuk.org.uk)
"3.2 Only your own assets should be taken into account Your local authority cannot include capital or income belonging to your partner in your financial assessment. This is because it does not have the power to assess couples according to joint resources - each person must be treated individually. Age UK factsheet 39 April 2017 Paying for care in a care home if you have a partner Page 5 of 16 Local authorities should not generally use joint assessment forms that ask for details of both partners’ finances. A local authority may ask for details of your partner’s finances on a separate form to ensure they are left with sufficient resources to live on when you go into a care home."
I said "possibly" If you try to hide assets to stop you having to pay for care then its fraud
@zippykona Do you have financial Power of Attorney from your Mum? If not, does she still have the mental capacity to give it to you?
If you have PoA, you can do anything she can financially, including getting pension paid into a new account, etc. If you don't, she'll have to sign everything.
We don't have POA as it's only recently that she has got her faculties back.
A provisional driving licence for £34 will make a lot of things easier as long as we can get the right pension form.
As an aside the nursing home have been absolutely brilliant and got her physically and mentally in a much better place. Last christmas she could barely scrawl on her husband's christmas card. She can now write a full card congratulating her granddaughter on the birth of her child.
If you work in a care home ,I salute you.
Do get independent advice though, Age Uk is a good starting point...
It sounds a bit fishy with the stepfather arrangement, when my nan went into care it was pretty straight forward, as she was on her own so to speak, financially, but she'll need 'pocket money' for getting her hair cut and buying treats, just little quality of life things that make a big difference.
If the step father is not doing that, then you should really start asking, why?
Especially if he's pocketing her regular pension payments..is there any property involved?
Her pension and winter fuel payments go into this account, which my step dad is keeping for himself.<br /><br />
it doesn’t necessarily help your situation but I recently heard of someone with PoA for a person in a care home who had got in a bit of a financial mess because (as it was reported to me) they hadn’t told the DSS to stop paying winter fuel payments when they went into care home. I’ve not checked if that is true (but it does seem if winter fuel allowance is for your heating and you don’t pay for the heating as you are in care it might be). <br /><br />
in your shoes I’d talk to the staff - they must have had to deal with similar - even if it wasn’t a greedy husband; in the days when banks had local branches they probably knew someone who could pop in on the way home to help set it up! Now it might be an online thing (Barclays created an account for my daughter virtually during lockdown). IIRC you have a shop, so possibly have a good relationship with a local bank for cash transaction - ask them (they may also know how to deal with a coercive partner too!).