How do you stop your aging parents from opening unnecessary charge accounts?

Since you are taking care of their finances why not have their mail forwarded to you? As soon as they open up a credit card account the company will send the new card with some kind of welcome letter and you can call the company then and there and get the account closed. I'm assuming that you have POA.

That's a tough one. But one thing you can do that might at least slow down their opening of new charge accounts is to place fraud alerts on their credit files every 90 days. That requires any potential new grantor of credit to contact them directly before opening. Your parents could still approve, but it would slow down the process.

You might also contact the 3 credit bureaus and ask if there's a way you could be added as contact for any potential new credit card issuers. I'm not really sure if this could be done, but it's worth a try.

Another option is to get free legal advice from the Elder Law of Michigan agency on behalf of your parents. Generally they don't provide free legal advice except to eligible elders within certain income limitations, so you might have to explain that you're requesting this on behalf of your parents.

This is their contact information:
1.866.400.9164
www.elderlawofmi.org

This is an agency, not a law firm. Attorneys of various practice areas volunteer their time, for free, to potential clients.

It may be that you could also find s similar source in Florida.

Another alternative is to suggest to them that it might be easier for you to handle all their bills if the credit card bills are sent directly to you. (That's what I've done). Then you can at least ensure that they're paid.

I assume that you don't have a Durable Power of Attorney on their behalf?

There's also the possibility that with the unpaid credit card bills their credit scores will decline to the point that new credit won't be issued.

Good luck.

I think you need to visit an elder care attorney to work this out. You probably need a durable POA so that they no longer have the ability to sign for new credit cards.