My sister and her husband live independently, but are having difficulty keeping their paperwork snd schedules organized, and finding things on their computer and phones. They are currently keeping up, but it takes a lot of time and is a constant source of stress between them. They are also starting to downsize and look for a smaller, more accessible place to live, so they need to reduce the time spent on tasks that can be outsourced.They need someone with office management, used to working with elders, and digitally literate to work in their home a few hours a week. They aren't organized enough to work with a remote assistant. They live in Atlanta, and I live in Colorado. I go there a couple of times a year for a couple of weeks, manage my own affairs remotely, and am available to do "triage" between them and an assisstant if needed.Thanks for any advice or resources that might be helpful.
At 77 my DH does it the old fashioned way, checks and paper bills. He has no idea how to work a computer. I do have my credit card payment on the app.
I would ask your sister to have you as a contact on all their bills if payments aren't made then ur contacted. This is what my Mom did. Never had that problem because when my Mom started having problems, she asked me to step in. My Mom always did the finances. Not sure if Dad knew how to write a check. She was having a problem with numbers. So she had me write the checks and she signed. Then she thought her writing was too bad, so I signed as POA but I was on her bank account. I reconciled her bank statement.
Sounds like your sister and husband may need an Assisted Living. If Dementia is in the picture, there will be continuous decline. All they will need to worry about is the monthly payment to the AL. And that probably can be set up where the AL pulls the monthly fee from their acct. Maybe sending you a copy of the bill for review and you sending payment electronically.
If not you may be able to handle their affairs remotely. My folks were in WV and I was in Michigan when they started failing due to dementia and health issues. I had POA and was able to gradually take over the finances, pay bills, deal with investments and so on. I had their bills sent to me. I collected all of their medical info and had the docs contact me for appointments and treatments.
I still made many trips over 5 years or so to check on them and try to keep the ship afloat. They ended up in assisted living after one of moms many bad falls. I had that set up beforehand as well.
It wasn’t easy but fortunately I had just retired so I was able to spend the time on caring for them.
Good luck to you.
In my experience with family and friends with dementia, losing one's ability to manage phone contacts and computer information is the beginning sign of memory impairment and dementia.
Even if they find someone to come in and organize/manage things, the minute that person leaves your parents are highly likely to forget what was done for them and go in and mess it up -- because they won't remember it was managed for them. IMO I don't think they will be able to manage downsizing, selling their home and moving on their own. I wouldn't trust that they'd be taken advantage of when selling their home. Their PoA will certainly need to oversee or fully manage this.
Even deciding on an appropriate place is probably already beyond their abilities, which are declining by the month. You need to make a decision -- assuming you are their PoA -- to intervene now or else be forced to do it in a crisis.
If you aren't their PoA (and they eachdon't have one and hoping it's not each other) then this is Problem #1 to solve.
Even bills that are auto-pay I print out receipts for the 3-ring binders, that way if something happens to us, our relatives can easily find the needed paperwork. If someone asked to see your car title, quickly where is it? I know, its in the binder marked "car".
I don't know if the above approach would work for your sister and her hubby, it depends on their work background.