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He emailed me for the first time ever. Recently he setup an online account for the bank mom has most of her money in. She has been paying bills late, etc. She has more money in this bank than FDIC insures for. I don't think a major bank is going to go down now a days. And don't want to do what he says. I also have POA, he doesn't. He is not looking out for mom. Just himself. He lives with mom. She pays the bills. He only gets SSI. He couldn't hold a job.He was lazy. Plus he gets all the money when mom dies. She is giving him the house and he will need as much money as possible to pay expenses. I not doing anything now.
But I could move one savings account to another bank later. I dint want to move the money and not tell mom. Besides she gets the bank statements. She might read them. And get a shock. She is dealing with a very painful injury that is limiting the use of her right arm and hand. She won't want to deal with anything else.

Barbara

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Oh, thank you for the clarification GardenArtist.

Sorry to hear your mother died, Barbara. My condolences to you and your family. Hopefully your concerns about your brother are less of an issue now and hope the estate settlement goes smoothly for you. God bless.
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2ndBest, Barbara's mother died a short while ago. Barbara is either Trustee or PR - I don't recall for sure whether her mother had a Trust or not. At any rate, I believe that Barbara would now be responsible for all the financial transactions.
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Speaking of the FDIC - it gives us all a false sense of security...did you know that they have 99 years to pay your claim if a bank fails? So your money could show up years after you are dead and buried. I would not let your brother's request that you move money to another account, under the guise of his "concern" about exceeding the FDIC coverage limit, persuade you to move any money. It sounds to me like he is going through your mom's bills and bank statements and took it upon himself to register her account online. So he can just get an account at the same bank, if he doesn't already have one, add her to the account (he can bring home signature papers for her to sign), and once that is established he can freely transfer money from her account into his. For example, I have joint accounts set up with both of my adult kids so I can transfer funds easily and quickly to their accounts if needed. I am joint account holder on both of their accounts, but they are not joint on mine. So when I log into my online account I have full access to their accounts, but they don't have access to mine. They use the accounts exclusively for cash infusions from me, so there is usually only a dollar or so balance. Once I transfer into their account, they then transfer that amount to their checking account that they actually use to pay bills. So if you close those accounts your mother has and move the money to another bank, what is to keep him from doing the same thing again? I think since your brother lives with your mother, and you have POA, you would be wise to get all of her mail sent directly to you. You could set up a PO Box and have it delivered there for you to pick up and keep safe from him, since he sounds rather parasitic. But if your mother is his enabler and trusts him, then she will probably not go along with the idea. In my case my parasitic sister is the one in charge of everything and she keeps it all hidden from the rest of us siblings. No transparency whatsoever. If you have POA then you have the authority to act on your mother's behalf. Your brother needs to be stopped in his tracks before this gets out of hand.
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Perhaps brother set up the account with mothers permission - have you asked her what she wants? Over-riding mothers wishes based on POA can only happen if she has been deemed legally incompetent by a judge in a court of law.
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Also, if she has significant funds, and you don;like the "regular" interest.. ask for a meeting with the banks personal investment person. They were so excited when we moved mom;s $ into our new bank they tripped over themselves to help. Lots of perks too! ( and no, we are not "rich", just above the usual in our area)
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I agree with several of the above posters that once you have an online account.. it is VERY easy to transfer $$ to another account.. even it you are not the POA.. no ID required on line once you have the password. My hubs in not on all my accounts.. but he could easily transfer $$ to his account if he wanted to . My parents on line accounts were also this way.. handy if I needed him to move some $$.. and he could. Maybe not legal.. but very easy. ( and befor anyone yells.. my folks were OK with this).
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She doesnt have a filing system. Everytime someone trys to help her get organized for bill paying. She goes back to dumping bills on the dining room table. That is so cluttered with junk mail, bills, papers, books, tools, etc. She wont throw junk mail out when it comes. She says she will get around to it. And it piles up. She has OCD and is a horder. I think, but not as bad as the ones on tv. Mom is 89. I did try to get her to let me pay bills for now. Her answer is no. His name isn't on any of the account. None of the banks or the credit union give you hardly any interest. Bank CDs are poor also. Yes she has over the insured amount. She might have said it was ok for him to set up online account. He isnt going to take the money. On SSI your limited in how much money you can have without loosing it. Besides anything he wants to buy, she says ok. Thank goodness he only buys nice frying pans, tools etc.
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As a POA you can only do what she wants you to do. As POA you should be checking to see if the taxes, utilities etc are paid. Mom stopped paying bills that she did not like. It took a lot of oversight to keep her from getting the water shut off. WATCH the property taxes, if she does not pay them, the house can end up in the county tax auction!!!
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There's something hinky about him doing (setting up) the on line banking. You are POA. I think there is more to the story.
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WAIT A MINUTE --- YOU are POA and your brother has set up an online account. HOW did that happen. He has no authority to do that and it can only lead to trouble. With an online account, he can transfer funds and make withdrawals. You are POA and as such, it is your role to protect your Mom's assets.

I know you have posted before but how old is your Mom? And her issues? I'd urge you to address this issue quickly. You can go to the bank where the account is, show your POA and undo the online account. Then you set up one where YOU have access and can pay the bills on time. If he starts to access Mom's accounts now, there may be nothing for her care at some time in the future. Speak with Mom and suggest you cover the bill paying role while her arm/hand heal. At that point, you can make changes as necessary.

Here are some things you can do: Change banks, change deposits of Social security and pensions to different accounts, reroute statements to online (your online) or to your home. Truly, give us a better description of her circumstances. Both my Mom and MIL showed early signs of dementia by not paying bills and handling money well. We chalked it up to age but in the end, realized it was the start of things. Keep us posted.
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As POA you are supposed to do the best for your Mother's interests. Moving money to an account earning better interest and also insuring FDIC security is in her best interest. Don't be so quick to trust banks, there is a reason for FDIC insurance. Just make sure he is not joint on the account.
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Does your Mom have more than $250,000 in one bank? For retirees the FDIC insures up to that amount.
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