Mum receives pension from 2 countries and I have guardianship / administratortrator powers in one country where we reside (Australia). Whilst the governments have an agreement regarding the pension and talk to each other, the overseas pension goes to an overseas bank account. Mum has just used the overseas card here for expenses. I’m in the process of placing Mum into aged care (where both her pensions combined are needed). In essence it’s no problem as I was just going to organise to transfer money from her overseas account into her Australian account and pay the aged care.
Anyhow her overseas bank has now decided they need to talk to all their customers to update their details and have them answer additional questions OR they will block all access to account & money until the customer has done so. Something to do with politics and political ties which is very strange. Mum won’t be able to answer their questions and I’ve found out that my Australian administrator doesn’t hold power there and essentially mums pension will be going to an account that she will not have access to. The queue to seek their local guardianship is over 4mths and can take longer until they actually appoint. That means for 4mths-6mths, mums money would be going to a locked account and she wouldn’t have enough money for aged care here. To be clear Mum has no assets so is already entering on gov assistance. However this takes into account both pensions. If I pay for her aged care out of my own savings, will I be entitled to pay myself back from her money once we are able to unlock her account and I gain administrator powers in that country as well? What happens if for some odd reason they don’t grant me the administrator rights (Mum has relatives in that country although they have not been in contact for years).
on the other hand, if I don’t pay for Mums aged care from my own savings, I don’t know what else I can do. It’s cheaper for her to stay with me and not enter aged care (then I wouldn’t have to pay for her) but that would mean job loss for me which would also put us in a difficult boat financially. So damned if I do, damned if I don’t.
People often have pensions in different countries but can decide where deposit goes. Which many choose to be in country of residence.
You could also have promissory note if Mom can sign, usually they are valid for years.
Red flags will go up if you are trying to transfer large amounts of money. You will have to travel to the country where your mother has her money and seek out the assistance of an attorney there to help you with this problem.
Good luck.