Sitting up in bed Agnes is ranting about injustice, theft and duplicitous children.
Strong willed with a razor-sharp mind she has clear views about self-reliance and financial independence, and she is aggrieved.
Right now, Agnes is fighting a medical ruling about incapacity.
Ten months earlier she suffered a mild stroke and was debilitated. Her children, from whom she is estranged, persuaded a doctor that she was incapacitated. They had themselves appointed custodians of her SMSF and started making “investment” decisions.
She has made a full recovery, though still has some mild physical after-effects.
However, the legal battles will take time, deplete her funds, and in the meantime, she has the ugly spectacle of watching her children “invest” her money.
Some simple planning would have saved Agnes a lot of heartache.
Either a Power of Attorney or a covering document appointing someone to act on her behalf, with clear instructions, if she became incapacitated, would have sufficed.
Do it now.
Because if someone is unwell in hospital, it is a thankless task to get all the paperwork & IDs needed.
The chasing is endless – and in a classic Catch-22, banks won’t speak to anyone without a Power of Attorney. They are wary of money laundering and identity theft.
There is a lot involved and it takes a lot of time and patience.