I would like an opinion as to whether it is safe to hire a senior assistant to take care of bills that are not on automatic payment. For a few bills, checks must be written such as those that are not regularly occurring. In the event a loved one cannot do that and a POA does not live locally, would this be safe if a person from a senior agency was vetted or is it likely a person would steal funds? My Aunt loved her aide of several years but after her death the family learned she had been stealing regularly by asking my Aunt to sign several checks.
Instead the bank employee let Mom's health insurance lapse and Dad's life insurance lapse in just her first year doing it.
She blamed it on everything but herself.
Before I found out (last July) that she'd let those payments lapse, I asked her repeatedly to update me/us on what she was accomplishing. We'd gotten no statements from her or any other sort of update. So, she finally set up a mtg with us.
In the mtg., she made a lot of vague comments about how great her team is, but never told us what she or they had gotten done. Mom and Dad told her they want to sell the only other property they own, because the loan and the upkeep are draining their accounts. They told the banker this THREE times.
So, the banker then says she'd like to get them to refinance it instead, through her bank of course, and even admitted the rate would not be lower.
Who in the heck tries to get a couple in their mid-90's to sign a refi on a house??!!
It was clear to us that everything she was trying to accomplish was self-serving and she was getting mad that I was getting in her way. My parents fired her then she sued them, claiming she was doing it out of "concern" for them.
No matter if it's an individual or a corporation, the temptation to abuse the elderly is too great.
Even if you do it wrong, you are the only one who cares enough about your own finances to do it right, or if errors occur, to make it right.
This is my experienced opinion.