Warning to caregivers: Expect a scavenger hunt Feb 24th

3 signs you need to take control of your parents’ finances

Caring for a parent? Get a power of attorney

Before my father was diagnosed with dementia, I had a 30,000-foot awareness of my father and my mother’s financial health. I knew which banks they had accounts with, what kinds of investment accounts they held, and where their car insurance policy was kept. I had a rough idea of where they kept some of these documents. 

We set up our wills and power of attorney documents with the same lawyer in Ottawa, so I knew where to access the documents, and even where in their house their copies were (our lawyer suggested a hack whereby we keep our legal documents zip-locked in the back of the freezer, where it would be protected from fire/water damage). When the realization set in that I would have to take a much more active role in managing both my parents’ financial and health-related affairs, I realized I would now need to access not just some of their tangible documents but all of it…