IDme Setup for mother with dementia
My mother has dementia. I am her POA. I am also the executor on a family trust that was associated to a new EIN after my father passed away. How can I setup Treasury Direct accounts for both the trust and my mother’s personal account, since she cannot follow any instructions and will not be able to complete facial recognition or other advanced authentication measures.
Terry Says
I passed this question on to my contact at Treasury and haven’t heard back yet. I’ll let you know if I do. BUT, I’m going to take a stab at it. I wasn’t quite sure whether you have an existing TreasuryDirect account, or are just inquiring about setting one up.
If she has an existing account, then Login — using the current method, available till the end of October — and then click on the tab that says “account info”. There you can change the name of the “Account Manager” to yours. YOu can’t change the name of the Social Security number associated with the account. That might let you set up an ID.me login for this account. But it might not.
Your only other alternative for an existing account is to let the securities mature naturally and roll off into the associated bank account. That will work for T-bills and notes, but not for Savings Bonds, which eventually will need instructions to be liquidated at maturity. So log in now, and make sure you are not authorizing rollovers of T-bills in the future. When those mature, you can make other arrangements for investments — such as in Treasury-only money market accounts in the name of the trust.
If you don’t already have a TreasuryDirect account, you can easily set up a trust account — using your name as Trustee and your SS number, and link it to a bank account with the same title. You might be required to submit documentation of the trust.
As for your mother’s personal account, I don’t think you can use her name on the title and your info. You’re better off avoiding TD and just using a Treasury money market deposit account at Vanguard or Fidelity or Schwab. But you’ll need your POA documentation there, as well. Please consult an estate planning attorney regarding your authorities and proper documentation.
