Managing finances for a relative

Helping a relative manage money requires matching the authority to the task. GOV.UK explains appointeeship for benefits, which is a specific role and not general control over all the person's property. ^[1]

Separate assistance from substituted decisions Someone who can decide may want help reading letters, organising bills or contacting a bank. Use the institution's authorised assistance process and keep the person's instructions clear. Do not assume family relationship permits account access or signing on their behalf.

If they cannot manage the relevant decisions, check existing powers of attorney or court orders. Benefits administration may be addressed through appointeeship, while wider financial affairs require a different legal basis.

Keep transactions visible to the relative Use a simple record of payments and reimbursements, with receipts. Explain what has been done in a format the person can understand and involve them in choices they can still make.

Review temporary financial authority where capacity is retained. Where it is not, consider deputyship or a specific court decision. Avoid making gifts, loans or property transfers on the assumption that permission to help with routine bills covers them.

Begin with tasks the relative wants help completing Ask which difficulty prompted the request for help. Reading small print, remembering payment dates and understanding an investment decision are different problems. A person who struggles with one may manage the others well. Write a task list in their own terms, such as opening correspondence together on Fridays or checking that the energy bill was paid. This makes the arrangement easier to explain to a bank and reduces the chance that a convenient helper gradually becomes the default decision-maker for everything.

Agree how instructions will be given and confirmed. Some people prefer a printed summary to review before a payment; others want a telephone conversation with a short written record afterwards. Check whether an institution offers an assistance arrangement suited to the task. Do not share online credentials merely because both people trust each other. A process that identifies the helper in their own role is easier to stop, review and explain if the account provider later asks who carried out a transaction.

Make an authority map for the institutions involved List the bank, benefit office, pension provider, insurer and any other organisation requiring contact. Beside each, record what the helper may do and which evidence the organisation requires. Permission accepted for a utility account does not establish permission for a property transaction. Equally, a document valid for financial decisions may need to be registered or checked by an institution before it can be used there. Treat administrative acceptance and the underlying scope of authority as separate questions requiring their own answers.

For benefits, GOV.UK describes an appointee's responsibility for claims, relevant changes and using benefit payments for the claimant. ^[1] That role should not be presented to a bank as general authority over unrelated savings or investments. Where several legal arrangements coexist, keep copies together with a plain description of their scope. If the wording is uncertain, obtain advice before an unusual transaction rather than asking the institution to infer powers from a family relationship or a history of helping with routine correspondence.

Use a payment routine that can be explained afterwards Create a bill schedule showing supplier, usual frequency, payment method and the person responsible for checking it. Keep the relative involved in reviewing unfamiliar charges. For reimbursements, record the purchase, receipt and amount returned to the helper. Avoid a running informal balance in which shopping, travel expenses and personal loans become mixed together. Even a well-intentioned arrangement can become difficult to reconstruct when several months pass or another relative takes over during an illness or a period away from home.

If the relative wants to change how much they spend on something, record their preference and any help provided to understand the options. Do not assume that a choice you dislike proves they cannot decide. Conversely, unusual pressure from another person or a sudden unexplained transaction deserves attention through an appropriate support route. Keep observations factual. A dated account of what was requested and what happened is more useful than a broad label such as 'bad with money' when seeking professional help.

Design the handover before the helper becomes unavailable Agree who can provide practical cover if the usual helper is ill, while recognising that legal authority cannot simply be passed to a substitute by informal instruction. Keep a current index of bills and relevant contacts without exposing passwords or security answers. Ask the relative where they want the index kept and who may see it. A useful emergency note explains what needs attention next week, rather than disclosing every financial detail to everyone who might offer occasional support.

Review the arrangement when the person's needs change or they want to resume tasks independently. Ask each institution how assistance can be varied or ended, and confirm outstanding actions before removing access. Where a change raises a question about decision-making capacity, seek assessment or advice for the relevant decision rather than making a family-wide declaration. The best practical arrangement remains proportionate to the task, understandable to the relative and sufficiently documented that its operation can be checked without relying on the helper's memory alone.