Handling the Finances for a Senior with Dementia

For family and caregivers, handling someone else’s finances can be a difficult task, particularly when that individual is afflicted with dementia.

In fact, the inability to handle finances is often one of the first signs that a someone has the disease. He or she might have trouble balancing a check book or might pay bills more than once or not at all. Someone with dementia might give away money or start hoarding it at the other extreme. Dementia leaves individuals open to financial risk and abuse, so it is important to recognize these signs.

Money Can Lose All Meaning

For people with dementia, money can lose its meaning, so they may become careless with it, lose it, or give itf away. Financial transactions can prove problematic, to say the least. Adults with dementia may not be able to identify coins correctly, remember pin numbers at an ATM, use checks, understand how credit cards work, or pay bills and loan payments on time.

Take Early Action and Create Powers of Attorney

Caregivers need to think about these kinds of issues as soon as they are recognizable. In some cases, the caregiver is able to help directly; in others, it may be advisable to seek outside help.

Having these difficult conversations with the patient and family members while the patient still has his or her faculties is very important. People in the early stages of the disease may be defensive about losing their financial independence. Taking over financial management for a senior with dementia represents a level of deterioration and a role change or reversal.

If possible, caregivers and adult patients can create joint accounts or power of attorney for financial decisions. The sooner these options come available, the better, when the patient has capacity to engage in these decisions. People in the early stages of the disease may still be able to understand financial matters but may be defensive about having their power taken away. Caregivers and families of patients can also keep an account with the patient’s name on it and leave manageable amounts of money so he or she will retain some financial independence and dignity.

Early Action on Advance Directives Is Key

Advance directives for financial and estate management need to be created while the person with Alzheimer’s is still able to make these decisions. A newly diagnosed person with Alzheimer’s and his or her family should move quickly to create or update a will or living trust to secure the estate. These documents state how a person’s assets are to be distributed upon death as well as arranging for the care of minors and including funeral and/or burial wishes.

Families and caregivers can reach out to the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the American Bar Association to find a qualified attorney to create the advance directives. If families cannot afford these options, or do not know where to turn, other sources of legal assistance may be available through local non-profit agencies, government web sites, state legal aid offices, and social service agencies.

Dan Ansel

Daniel E. Ansel is founder and president of Active Daily Living, a population health platform that provides interactive tools, personalized content, resources, and advice for seniors, caregivers, and people with functional limitations. You can reach him at dansel@privatehealthnews.com or (513) 731-6700, ext. 17