What does “responsible” mean for my situation, can I be held accountable?

Questioner

My aunt, 85, has (early stage) dementia, is legally competent, has to make a major financial decision that she cannot oversee herself, needs from me: calculations and advice. It concerns moving. If she follows my advice, and it does not work out well later, am I (jointly) responsible? She has applied for professional administration, but the administrator has not yet been appointed by the court. My aunt does not want to wait until that administrator is responsible, otherwise that luxury room in a care institution may no longer be available. That future administrator says that until she is appointed, 'the family' (mainly me) is 'responsible'. What does that mean? Liable? Can I be held liable for any adverse consequences of my advice/assistance with a major expense that my confused but still legally competent aunt urgently wants to make? (The future administrator is pressuring me to cooperate quickly: perhaps also to avoid this responsibility myself before she takes office?) With thanks and kind regards,

Lawyer

Yes, you can always be held liable by someone or an entity, but what exactly is it that you fear? That you have mismanaged your finances? You can still estimate on the basis of the data whether that is the case or not? Then the error or the unlawfulness must still be stated and proven. In any case, if you fear this too much, it is better to wait for an offer of another space when the administrator has been appointed. It is true that people are then often put back on the waiting list.