Without legal documents like power of attorney, banks won't let you help your aging parents even in emergencies. Signature matching and two-factor authentication lock you out. You need three essential legal items in place before a crisis hits.
Harsh reality is that without the right legal documents, institutions can treat you like a legal stranger to your own parents.
You need legal documents in order to help them. Banking system is so sophisticated these days. They have signature matching, they have voice recognition on the phone calls, they have two-factor authentication on everything. You can't just pretend to be somebody anymore in this day and age. It just doesn't work. I didn't know what to do and I was stuck.
Here's what Beth learned the hard way, and this actually will save you years of pain. You need 3 things in place before anything unfortunate happens to your parents. And if you wait until something happens, it might make it much more difficult, sometimes impossible, to actually help them.
