Getting control of the finances is hard; we had help from a parent’s tax preparer. He sent a bill which was more than double the previous ten years, so parent (who was in denial that there was anything wrong cognitively) called to yell and scream about why the bill was so high.
Preparer said “you brought in 12 shoeboxes stuffed with receipts, recipes cut from magazines, and random photos of your grandkids. I had to pay overtime for someone to go through it all which is why the bill is so high. Next time have one of your kids sort through the shoeboxes first”.
Parent was livid- bye bye tax preparer, hello daughter. I explained that without the brokerage statements I couldn’t be much help. Then I explained that the bank needed “proof” that I had authority to look at the bank statements (so off we went to the bank to sign the POA in front of the bank manager). Then I had a “problem” with direct deposit of the social security check, another problem with Blue Cross… so over a period of three months, I got the POA, Health Proxy, checkbook, etc. It helped that I’d had all the documents drafted-- just needed signature and notary every time there was a “problem”.
Not easy. The car was easier… one snowy day the car disappeared for “snow tires” and somehow never made it home.