Hello. My father still lives in his own home and my youngest brother lives with him. I am POA, but live over two hours away. My father is running out of money but is a very "soft touch" for door to door sales people and telemarketers. We have had a few near misses recently with dad almost entering into contracts he can't afford AT all. Without going to an attorney for an expensive guardianship, can I stop dad from having any control over his own money at this point? I pay all the bills.
If your father has a smartphone, put an app on it to prevent incoming calls from callers not in the contact list.
If he has a landline, I think there is some tech you can use to silence the calls.
Set bills to auto pay to reduce the mail and ensure bills are paid.
Monitor, and possibly take, away the credit card if he can't be responsible with it.
Prevention is worth a pound of cure!
If yours is immediate, freeze his credit. Take his checkbooks and credit cards out of the house.
The other POA type is springing, which is active only after the person granting the POA is incapable. I believe but am not certain that this requires an official declaration of incompetence by a doctor or lawyer (please check and verify).
You all are fortunate that your youngest brother is there to inform you of any risky financial situation. Your father really needs your help!
This is the very reason I have POA for my sister, to prevent any further loss of money.
I hope this situation will resolve without more legal help. I hope you have a durable POA! You have my prayers !
https://www.agingcare.com/questions/mom-was-scammed-how-do-i-prevent-this-from-happening-again-without-making-her-feel-dumb-and-a-warnin-476470.htm?orderby=recent