As Canada's population ages, more children will be thrust into a reversed role of looking out for their parents and their finances. Experts say they will have to be on guard for a wide range of issues like missing payments. When potentially taking over someone's finances it's important to build a support team with legal, financial and others to provide advice. It's also crucial for family, including siblings, to keep open conversations throughout the process. When taking over finances, the person with power of attorney should have a full understanding of expenses, income, accounts, and mortgages to make sure items aren't missed. Early planning is crucial not only to avoid problems with banks, but to safeguard from the financial elder abuse that is most often perpetrated by adult children. An aging parent can assign power of attorney to a trusted child and still go on managing all their finances independently, with the backup in place and ready to go. Aging parents should also make sure their finances, will, and power of attorney are settled long before it's needed.