Lana seems to be doing okay. My son doggysat yesterday while I visited my dad but had to leave 10 minutes before I got back. I thought she might bark when he left but he switched the recorder on and there wasn't a sound from her.

She seems to like her crate this time around. Normally she sleeps in my bedroom which means I take the bedding from the crate, because I put everything in there to make it really comfortable, but the last 2 nights when I've said are you coming to bed she just looked at me so I left her in her crate. I did leave the doors open so she could come through but she seemed fine staying in the livingroom.

She's in the bedroom at the moment and I know she's on my bed, I think she must like being in a different room from me

We're hoping my dad will get the rest of the tests done this week and then we can find out what's happening. He got a laptop the other day so he could listen to his music and watch dvds so he seems to be settling in a bit better, not phoning so much during the day, or it could be because he spent £20 on his mobile in the one day He says I can have the laptop when he comes out which is good as I can put all my stuff on it and get my emails from there so can spend more time at his house instead of running up and down the road to check my emails at home but if he has to go back in anytime he can have the laptop back.

He keeps telling me to take whatever I need from his bank cards so I've told him my sister and I are going for a weekend to New York and having a shopping spree haha He knows I'm only joking. I have a spreadsheet keeping tabs on what I'm spending of his money but he really shouldn't tempt me like that. I could have a ball while he's away and I have access to all his money.

I was surprised when I bought him the laptop that the shop let me use his card as I didn't take the cash from his account first. It seemed like it was no big deal but it could have been a stolen card. I ended up putting in the wrong pin number wrong so had to phone my dad so he could give me the right one.

Hiya,

Glad your dad is settling a bit better now he has his laptop and that Lana seems to be comfortable sleeping alone

The shop really shouldn't have allowed you to use the card and just to warn you that if you do get caught doing that, you can get it trouble If the bank finds out, they will block him account so don't tell the bank! It doesn't matter if you have your dads verbal permission, it's not legal.

If you suspect that your dad will be in hospital for sometime, the best idea would be to contact the Office of the Public Guardian and get some forms for a Lasting Power of Attorney.

You and your dad can do them yourself, you don't need a solicitor and if your dad is only on his pension then he can get the fee waived. He can choose to give you financial access, he can also choose if he wants to give you rights to make decisions about his health.

You can ONLY use the health one if he looses his mental capacity. However he can choose to allow you to use the financial one while he still has mental capacity, in situations just like this where he's in hospital. Equally, if he's worried, he can also take the paperwork back off you once he is out of hospital so he's not "giving up" his rights forever, he can also continue to access his own bank account...until he loses mental capacity.

As far as I know this is the only legal way that you can access the bank account of someone who is still mentally capable and that you don't have a joint account with. LPAs are a great idea for anyone as you never know what could happen and I'd really advise getting one sorted for your dad

Any questions just ask, I used to work for the OPG so I know all about it.

There must be millions of people conducting illegal transactions at risk of prosecution then!

Our Senior Team Secretary has all our credit card details and PIN numbers to use for organising our trips, accommodation etc.

I have also used my mother's card to purchase things for her when she could not leave the house.

What law makes it illegal?

ps I have also used my friend's card to pay half our holiday together so this is news to me. I cannot see how it can be illegal if you have permission.

*shrug* not getting into a debate over it, just trying to help the OP. If the bank find out, they will stop it. She also can't access any bills etc that he might be paying. I heard hundreds of stories from people with parents in hospital who couldn't access their money for them. I heard a very sad tale of a woman who's son ended up in a coma on life support and tried to stop all his bills but wasn't allowed.

There may be other methods and it might be different in business. However as far as I know, technically it's not ok to just hand someone your card and let them access your money. Ask the bank, they will tell you. You can't access their money as if you are them, which is what you are doing if you stick a card in am ATM or pay on a pin in a shop

If the OP wants to continue then that's her choice. As long as she doesn't get caught she'll be fine and I'm sure loads of people do it. However if she does get caught, it's a lot harder to undo it all and get access again. For the sake of filling out a form and doing it legally, why not?

Anyway that's my last word on the matter. Just trying to help the OP and suggest an option. I don't pretend to be an expert on accessing money but I do know about LPAs and as far as I'm concerned they are a very good idea as you usually don't find out that you need one until it's too late

Yes I know about LPAs too, I have an enduring power of attorney for my mother, all organised whilst she was well so that there is no delay if she falls prey to dementia etc.

It is all about planning, I will ask our legal department about the bank cards as we may well be putting our employees at risk if this is the case.

So thanks for the information.

I think using anyone else bank cards , details will be illegal, but it does not stop us all doing it,

As you say we do it all the time, with friends and family, bookings on line and so on, not sure I would allow my employer to hold such info though, that would be a step to far

As it is my Corporate Card ie not my PERSONAL Credit Card, then to withhold that info from the person who ISSUES me with it would be a tad peculiar

I had been thinking I could use the card, simply stick it in the machine and put in the pin number but because it was a laptop they wanted details for the warranty whereas in the supermarket no one would be any the wiser.

Thanks for the info Moonsmum , I have power of attorney along with my sister and brother, my dad made a will a couple of years ago and signed over the power to us using a solicitor. We don't actually have any forms to show anyone, maybe I'll ask the solicitor about that just in case I am caught

I've given my card to my son in the past to use, I've no idea if it's illegal or not but I would think that if he took all my money I would have no recourse with the bank to get my money back as I had given him the pin number. As smokeybear says there must be millions of people all around the world giving their cards and pin numbers for other to use

I think it's illegal to write a cheque when you have no money in your account but I used to do that a few years ago when I knew my money was going in on the Thursday, used to use a cheque on Tuesday at Tesco as I knew by the time it went in my money would be there

My sister and I have an appointment with the consultants at the hospital on Thursday eeek they asked for two of us to go in. Not good news, my dad has had prostate cancer for quite a few years but now has shadows on his lung and liver so we're back to wondering how advanced it is and if he'll be with us at Christmas.

I am so very sorry to read this. My heart goes out to you.

You are not supposed to use other people's cards even with the pin. My son gave me his card to get some money out for him and transfer it to my account, so I went into the bank but they told me I couldn't do it at the counter......they said if I went outisde to the cash machine it would be ok, they would pretend they knew nothing, then I had to take it inside and put it in my account that way.

My friend was using her husbands card in Tesco, they refused to let her use it as it wasn't hers, even though the cashier knows her!
She had to leave all her shopping and was not happy.