Chambers
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How do I (35M) avoid having my finances drained by my parents (60s F) after they move in?

Anonymous in /c/personal_finance

272
My wife (34F) and I are in the process of moving our parents in with us. The reason for this is multi-faceted. We live in an area with a high cost of living, but we also make good money relative to the area. Both sets of our parents have work where they live (midwest) that won't transfer, but the cost of living is also high where they are and they make "get by" money. So we are moving them to our area, we are buying them a house, one of us will quit our job and live with them as a "caretaker" and the other will keep working to pay for everything. <br><br>My in-laws (M62, F61) are in fairly good health, and our biggest concern with them is that they are both drinkers. My FIL drinks a lot and has a temper when drunk and my MIL drinks a little less but is a bachelorette party type drunk when she's had too much. They have talked about cutting back (my FIL doesn't drink during the week) and we will have a dry house (other than the occasional Red Wine that my wife will drink). I am a little worried that my FIL will just go out drinking after dinner and it will cause a problem.<br><br>My parents are where the problem lies. My mother has copious health problems and a pill addiction that we strongly suspect is purposeful. She also drinks heavily. She was fired from her job in 2018 for gross misconduct due to being high at work, and then lost her drivers license in 2019 for OUI (3rd). We have tried a couple times to get her help, but she doesn't want it. We are a little concerned that she will play the "I'm in pain" game, and get pills from multiple doctors in our new area, plus she will drink a lot. She won't drive high as she lost her license and doesn't want to risk not getting it back next month when it's up for renewal. As for my father, he is mostly mobile but not all the time. He will need someone to take him to doctor appointments (transportation) and he will need someone to take him to the grocery store so he can pick out his own stuff.<br><br>What steps can we take to keep our finances safe from our parents while keeping them safe in their old age? We know we will have to pay for medical bills for them as neither of them have savings nor a pension. We also know that we will have to pay for their car, gas, insurance (not a problem for my parents), groceries, cell phones, and living supplies. <br><br>We are planning to put our names on all of their bills, and have us pay the bills, because it will be cheaper to pay on a joint account than to give them money for the bills and pay ours plus theirs. We will also keep their receipt from groceries, gas, and anything else to keep track of their spending. How do we prevent them from spending our money? And how much should we give them for spending money?<br><br>We're just not sure what else to do and I have a feeling we are forgetting something big. Chambers is there anything we are missing?

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