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My mom will be POA. She isn’t on his car loan but she is on the car insurance. She’s on a limited income with SSI . Does she have to put on the car loan?

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Get to an estate attorney asap. He might still be able to grant POA to one of his kids (with an alternate named). It seems like your dad would need to be advanced before they would deny him the ability to do this. It is worth a try and will make things easier. She should name a POA at this time as well for herself. Once you get this paperwork in place, everything will be easier. If they are able to assist with passwords, you can use online banking to help them manage their finances even before you go to the bank with the POA when that is needed.

Now is the time to write down all of their passcodes and passwords, while everyone can still remember, fyi. Ask where important documents are kept, life insurance policies, deeds to house and car, etc. Get organized. Make sure nothing is in a safe deposit box because that is about the most difficult thing to access if a person has passed or is incompetent. That or canceling the cell phone service from AT&T. Good luck!
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Michelle3279 Mar 11, 2025
Thank you for the information. That’s we have done he was paying everything through his apps and autopay. My mom is getting paper statements now. Making sure we have all passwords and everything.
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If she is not the POA yet, she may not be able to become one, as he has been diagnosed with dementia and thus is not of sound mind.

Please hire an attorney to guide you through the process, making her the DPOA really isn't a good idea, perhaps one of the children would be a much better option.
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If dad is still clear headed enough to want to assign POAs and the attorney feels comfortable working with him and feels comfortable that he understands what he is doing he very much can still assign powers of attorney. Your family needs to agree on one primary POA, someone younger than your mom, and not fiddle around with co-poa. And have your mom do hers while you’re there.
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AlvaDeer Mar 10, 2025
Agree absolutely. These folks need to get to an attorney and fast.
My brother was able to make me POA and Trustee of Trust AFTER being diagnosed with Lewy's, but wow, that was one thorough exam by his attorney.
And yes, one person, the one most capable after understanding what it entails, and then the successors in case the first cannot serve.
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If Mom is not POA, she may not be able to become one now. Dad needs to understand what assigning a POA means. If he doesn't, then he cannot assign someone. You also don't assign everyone in the family. Only one person should be making the decisions for Dad. A back up if the primary can no longer do the responsibilities. I suggest that one of the Sons become POA. The one close in miles. That person should hold both Financial and Medical. The lines between the two get blurred with who does what when there are 2 different people.

You need an Elder Lawyer to help you figure this all out. The car, IMO, as long as Dad is alive and Mom is on the insurance as a driver, no problem. If Dad passes, then the car becomes part of his estate. Hopefully, he has a Will saying what is his is now hers. She can then have the car title changed to her name. I suggest too, that when you see a lawyer, Mom has POA assigned then. POAs are done before a person becomes incompetent, not after.
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Is it a new car? I'm asking because it may make more sense to get rid of it and buy an good used car for cash and she puts it in you or a sibling's name so that the insurance isn't high. We never buy new cars, they are not worth it. Worthwhile information on good used cars can be found in the Consumer Reports Used Car annual ranking. There's a fee to view it but it's worth it. I was PoA for my Aunt 100+ still living at home. She owned a car that she didn't drive but we kept it to transport her places. Her insurance was very high so she was willing to transfer the title over to her niece/caregiver and the car stayed in Aunt's garage and was only used for her needs. She recently passed and the car was kept by her niece because she had paid the insurance and maintenance on it for those years.
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Your Dad's car loan is not the problem you all are going to face.

Dementia is an umbrella term for the symptoms that happen to someone from some form of brain injury or progressive disease, such as Alzheimers or Parkinsons. There are also several specific types of dementia, such as Frontotemporal, Vascular, or Lewy Body dementia. Being actually "diagnosed with dementia" is serious, since it is not easy to diagnose. I'm sure there's more to Dad's diagnosis than "dementia." Doctors don't use that term easily.

You all need to worry about preventing Dad from driving at all. As his disease progresses, Dad won't be safe driving and a danger to himself and other innocent drivers. He will start getting lost and unable to find his way home. His Doctor is a mandated reporter, and must notify the DMV, who may decide to cancel his license.

Your Mom needs to see a geriatric or family lawyer about the best way to handle this situation. Once Dad has been formally diagnosed, it is illegal for him to appoint anyone for his POA. Normally his spouse will be in charge of the entire financial and medical situation, unless she also has dementia.

If this car is so important for his family to worry so much about the car loan, you will have a serious fight on your hands trying to take his keys. Mom needs to see a lawyer to properly handle this by the laws of your state. Her "limited income" has nothing to do with it.

Best of luck in this difficult journey.
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I don't know the laws of your particular state. I don't know if the car is community property, but your father, whether in the throes of illness of not, is unfortunately on this car loan. Defaulting on the loan would result in repossession. And in fact that may lead to dealership selling the car for less than value and they can still bring charges on your father to pay.

Because this is a new diagnosis, Mom is POA, and so many things are dependent on doing things right, I think this is best discussed with an attorney for options. A failure could result in ruined credit, outstanding loan, repossession and sale and STILL owing, and etc. Do see an attorney. The truth is that your mother, should you father now need care, even placement, may be looking in future at the need of an attorney for division of assets to protect her own. She is going to have more legal questions than just this one.

I am so sorry for this new diagnosis. It is going to take time and expert help to work things out well as they can be worked out now.

I hope that others have much more knowledge of this sort of thing than I do, so stay tuned to the thread in case.
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Michelle3279 Mar 9, 2025
ThanK you so much for the information. We can afford to make the car payments . She’s worried because she isn’t technically on the car they would take it. I said as long as he’s making the payments . My brother or I will be added to POA because my mom is older not sure if she can handle all this on her own. t
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I appreciate your comments. My brother or I are thinking of being on POA as well. This is all new to us. He was fine and for almost a month something was off. Thank you. Mom is scared they will lose the car since it’s not on her name. She’s already on the insurance . Thank you again.
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AlvaDeer Mar 9, 2025
You cannot be added to a POA. Now that your father is ill he can no longer make a POA. You can't be added by your mother. Truly you are needing to see an attorney now for guidance because you are going to have a whole lot of questions. Your mom also needs to know how and what record keeping to do. Good luck.
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Assuming your parents are elderly, it’s better to add a secondary POA of a younger age or just name someone younger as POA as the role needs someone who’s long term available for sound decision making. A fellow senior isn’t best for this, at least as sole POA. Whoever is the holder of the loan for the car doesn’t care who pays the car note, just that it gets paid. If the plan is for the car to be keep it’s not important for mom to be on the loan. She should be added to the title as soon as car is paid off and title is clear to do so
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