I have power of attorney for a relative who is incapacitated. I need to make payments for this relative and purchase items etc. What is the best course of action? Can I add this relative as an authorized user to one of my credit card accounts and then put those charges for that relative on the AU account? Is the billing seperated out? I need the records to be clear that purchases were made for the relative, so I can't have co-mingled statements or anything like that in case of state government audits etc. Is it better to apply for a card on the relatives behalf and use that card? If so, do you just fill out the application in the person's name or do you need to contact the credit lender and submit a copy of the power of attorney?
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Only a few lenders split AU transactions from primary cardhold transactions on statements; Amex is a great example. (Many AU cards are identical to primary cards in every way - number, expiration, CVV - except for the name on the card, so there is no way for the lender to know who made the charge; Chase is one example.) But the statements themselves will have all charges made on the account, even though they are broken down by person. If you want the statement to solely show charges made by/for the AU, that's not possible as far as I know. The only way to accomplish that is for them to have their own account, or for them to be an AU on an account that you do not make your own charges on.
IANAL and legal advice isn't something we do on myFICO, but my understanding is that with power of attorney, you can simply apply for credit on behalf of the other party, no paperwork or consent required as you are solely responsible for all of their financial decisions.
You could always use a prepaid Green Dot card.
@coldfusion wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:Only a few lenders split AU transactions from primary cardhold transactions on statements; Amex is a great example. (Many AU cards are identical to primary cards in every way - number, expiration, CVV - except for the name on the card, so there is no way for the lender to know who made the charge; Chase is one example.) But the statements themselves will have all charges made on the account, even though they are broken down by person. If you want the statement to solely show charges made by/for the AU, that's not possible as far as I know. The only way to accomplish that is for them to have their own account, or for them to be an AU on an account that you do not make your own charges on.
IANAL and legal advice isn't something we do on myFICO, but my understanding is that with power of attorney, you can simply apply for credit on behalf of the other party, no paperwork or consent required as you are solely responsible for all of their financial decisions.
That would depend on the power that was granted. I would assume as the other person is incpacitated it is a durable PoA but it could be limited. OP might be best served by discussing this with the attorney representing the person who is incapacitated.
Its more of a practical thing. I am not asking for legal advice. I know what I have authority to do. I'm asking more of how it works in practice in case someone here has gone through the actual process, especially with my specific goal of being able to show a clear record of the charges etc.
I have power of attorney for my DH who is totally disabled but has his own separate source of income. I applied for a Capital One card in his name to use for prescription payments. Initially, after approval, Capital One "restricted" the card requiring a phone call in to their fraud department as my DH's credit file had not been active for a number of years. Once he authorized, verbally, that they could talk with me, I explained that he was disabled, that I had applied on his behalf to cover prescription purchases and that I wanted the account separate from any in my name only. I had to fax in a copy of his state ID, social security card and the complete power of attorney document. Within a couple of days, Capital One called back to say the account had been unrestricted and was now active. I have had no issues since and the account has been open over two years. YMMV.
As an additional DP I had my granddaugther as an authorized user on my personal Capital One account and they issued her a separate card with a separate number that reported on my statement with her purchases identified separately. If you don't want to go with the power of attorney, you might just open a Capital One account and add your relative as an authorized user. If Capital One hasn't changed their policies you will receive a separate card in the relative's name and, when swiped, it will report separately on your statement under your relative's name. YMMV.
Thanks for the answers. In the end I didn't bother doing it. I really need to have the finances air tight with everything documented in detail, so I just opted to do everything by check. I'm doing filings with the state for medicaid etc for my relative, so the government is going to go through the numbers with a fine tooth comb and I didn't feel like doing anything that is going to complicate matters further.