Power of Attorney - Mental Incapacity
Discussion
Has anyone got any experience of applying for power of attorney for a relative who lacks the mental capacity to make sound financial decisions? I have a relative who unfortunately had a stroke before Xmas, he is not going to recover well enough to be aware of his surroundings or make sound decisions on his or his wife's future. The issue we have is that no-one has signatory on his account other than him, and his pension provides the main funding for the household. His wife would like power of attorney to take control of his account and sort out the regular payments to the care home.
Any advice would be welcome, I am sure it will involve solicitors but it would be good to understand the steps from someone who has been through it.
Any advice would be welcome, I am sure it will involve solicitors but it would be good to understand the steps from someone who has been through it.
Hi,
I was made POA over my mother several years ago. A solicitor drew up the details for us to sign.
You can then obviously sign cheques, pay bills etc on their behalf.
As i understood it, if they become mentally incapacitated, and i think there are various criterea to determine this, The POA can then be registered at the Court of Protection which gives you complete control. (link below) Overall it is best to get legal advice.
http://www.publicguardian.gov.uk/about/court-of-pr...
I was made POA over my mother several years ago. A solicitor drew up the details for us to sign.
You can then obviously sign cheques, pay bills etc on their behalf.
As i understood it, if they become mentally incapacitated, and i think there are various criterea to determine this, The POA can then be registered at the Court of Protection which gives you complete control. (link below) Overall it is best to get legal advice.
http://www.publicguardian.gov.uk/about/court-of-pr...
Great stuff, exactly what I was looking for.
It is getting a bit wearing drawing £300 per time out of the ATM (his wife has his cash card), the fees for the home are £600 per week!! We desperately need to take control and set up direct debits.
I must say this makes me think hard about the sort of provisions I will make in my old age
It is getting a bit wearing drawing £300 per time out of the ATM (his wife has his cash card), the fees for the home are £600 per week!! We desperately need to take control and set up direct debits.
I must say this makes me think hard about the sort of provisions I will make in my old age
I'll speak to James tomorrow personally but would have thought that in a situation like this a Mental Capacity Assessment will have been carried out to help decide on his discharge destination. (Where does he want to live)
Whilst this 'best interests' decision is specific to one question, it would feed into financial matters too.
Whilst this 'best interests' decision is specific to one question, it would feed into financial matters too.
jimmystratos said:
IIRC, the PoA has to be set up while the subject is still competent.
A simple power of attorney is a document which contains the right words and is correctly signed and witnessed. Anyone can do this without a solicitor and the person in question does have to be compos mentis. An enduring power of attorney is a different matter altogether though.Glocko said:
I'll speak to James tomorrow personally but would have thought that in a situation like this a Mental Capacity Assessment will have been carried out to help decide on his discharge destination. (Where does he want to live)
Whilst this 'best interests' decision is specific to one question, it would feed into financial matters too.
Thanks Paul for your advise, we are on the case now...Whilst this 'best interests' decision is specific to one question, it would feed into financial matters too.
I have POA for my father. Upon the advice form a relative we put this in place whilst he was still quite well. In this case it was very straight forward. Simply downloaded forms from here:
http://www.publicguardian.gov.uk/
Fill it in, send it off along with a cheque for about £130 IIRC and wait. 6 weeks later- job done. No need for solicitors. I Believe it can be a lot more complicated once the individual in question is not firing on all cylinders as it were. The advise from my cousin to get things sorted early was invaluable- she had to go through an 18 month legal process.
http://www.publicguardian.gov.uk/
Fill it in, send it off along with a cheque for about £130 IIRC and wait. 6 weeks later- job done. No need for solicitors. I Believe it can be a lot more complicated once the individual in question is not firing on all cylinders as it were. The advise from my cousin to get things sorted early was invaluable- she had to go through an 18 month legal process.
Done it.
The downside is that every single organisation that your relative deals with will not deal with you unless they are sent the PoA. They have a habit of losing these and of asking lots of security questions. The PoA isn't cheap and you are charged for copies.
I have often wondered if it would have been a lot easier and vastly cheaper to just tell them all that old MrsX has moved to live with us and then forward all post. If I'd done this I'd have saved over a thousand in solicitors fees and have just as much control over the important stuff.
The best tip is to set up an account in your name and get regular transfers from your relatives account put into it for expenses, emergencies or unexpected repairs. Close any of your relatives surplus accounts and savings schemes and have just one current account in a local bank that you can easily visit. Stop any direct debits that aren't essential and cancel any unexpected additions that appear. Your relative cannot deal with these things and may just send the money off to a charity or randomly sign up to non essential credit or services if they do decide to deal with it so do this ASAP.
The downside is that every single organisation that your relative deals with will not deal with you unless they are sent the PoA. They have a habit of losing these and of asking lots of security questions. The PoA isn't cheap and you are charged for copies.
I have often wondered if it would have been a lot easier and vastly cheaper to just tell them all that old MrsX has moved to live with us and then forward all post. If I'd done this I'd have saved over a thousand in solicitors fees and have just as much control over the important stuff.
The best tip is to set up an account in your name and get regular transfers from your relatives account put into it for expenses, emergencies or unexpected repairs. Close any of your relatives surplus accounts and savings schemes and have just one current account in a local bank that you can easily visit. Stop any direct debits that aren't essential and cancel any unexpected additions that appear. Your relative cannot deal with these things and may just send the money off to a charity or randomly sign up to non essential credit or services if they do decide to deal with it so do this ASAP.
Once they've gone bonkers it's too late - you have to do everything through a Court of Protection. As Tonker says you have to contact all the family to advise them of this.
The old system was 'Enduring Power of Attorney' - signed in advance by the subject when compos mentis, then 'registered' (activated) when they went bonkers. There's a new system now, can't remember the name, which is similar. Once registered, you can manage the subject's affairs for them, sign cheques and everything else - BUT it does carry a legal responsibility so keep it straight.
The old system was 'Enduring Power of Attorney' - signed in advance by the subject when compos mentis, then 'registered' (activated) when they went bonkers. There's a new system now, can't remember the name, which is similar. Once registered, you can manage the subject's affairs for them, sign cheques and everything else - BUT it does carry a legal responsibility so keep it straight.
Edited by Simpo Two on Wednesday 20th January 22:13
I am in the process of instructing a solicitor on Lasting Powers of Attorney on...
"Property and Affairs LPAs or Health and Welfare LPAs"
Can a poster please explain the differences between the above, and also the differences between the following;
a) With Registration
b) With Certificate Provision
c) With Registration and Certificate Provision
Thanks in advance.
"Property and Affairs LPAs or Health and Welfare LPAs"
Can a poster please explain the differences between the above, and also the differences between the following;
a) With Registration
b) With Certificate Provision
c) With Registration and Certificate Provision
Thanks in advance.
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