Incidentally, once we'd arranged the POA for my mum it became a lot easier to do things such as pay her care home fees and expenses. With her agreement, I kept her debit card and cheque book at my house, so there was never any danger of her becoming a victim of theft or fraud (and she was so deaf that no-one could ever ring her up!). She kept a few quid in her purse and that was it. TSB even gave me a debit card for her account with my name on it.