After a bad fall last year my Mother has been diagnosed with Dementia & unable to make complex decisions. Unfortunately although I was dealing with her financial obligations (paying bills, shopping etc) it never occurred to me to apply for Power of Attorney & now it seems it's too late. Her local authority have advised applying for Deputyship, I've had a quick look on the web where the advice from one site is to avoid deputyship as it is very expensive. Does anybody have any advice on this & are there any other options ? Any help/ advice at a very sad & worrying time will be greatly appreciated.
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What's the difference in POA and Deputyship?
Sorry for the questions when you're looking for answers.
Unfortunately doesnt help you out in any way with your situation but all the best coping with what is a very sad, difficult time like you say
Having dementia doesn't mean a person can't wish for somebody else to manage their affairs. Has your mum definitely gone beyond this point~?
If your Mum has mental capacity ('the ability to make or communicate specific decisions at the time they need to be made') then the LPA would seem to be the best course of action. That would give you the authority and ability to take over your Mum's affairs at the time when her mental capacity diminishes, hopefully some time in the distant future. It's basically a document saying 'If I lose mental capacity, I want Charlton Bob to take over my affairs. But not yet'.
Note that there is an LPA for 'property and financial affairs' and an LPA for 'health and welfare'. The former gives you authority to look after your Mum's money, property, investments, bills, etc. and the latter allows you to look after her specific aspirations with regards to her preference in terms of her health treatments. They're £82 each.
If your Mum is considered to have mental capacity right now, then it would make a lot of sense (and avoid a lot of complicated issues) if she named you as an attorney.
You would need to register with the Office of the Public Guardian (details here https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/make-lasting-power). And you would need to get someone (can't remember whether you need one or two) to witness your Mum's signature. (You can't witness it if you're the attorney).
The key to it is to get a 'certificate provider' to confirm she's making the LPA by choice and she understands what it all means. If there's someone who knows your Mum well and can verify this, then, in my experience it's the most enormous imaginable weight lifted off your shoulders.
Good luck - I hope it works out for your Mum.
It definitely enabled my wife to act in his best interests, not just financially but she was involved in other important decisions too.
She is hard of hearing & doesn't always understand what is being said or sometimes acts up & pretends that she doesn't hear.
I got financial LPA to act on my father's behalf when, in reality, he already was very, very far gone in terms of dementia. My mother got health LPA at the same time.
The family doctor who knew my dad's case, and my family etc, certified that he was of sound mind at the time...
Good luck, LPA is definitely the way to go if you can get it sorted.
Too late because she (according to a doctor) is unable to make complex decisions for herself
Here's a link, I've just skimmed through but I think all details are there. From what I understand (from a different website) I actually have to pay each year to manage my mums money !
https://www.hughjames.com/blog/powers-of-attorney-and-deputyships-what-is-the-difference#:~:text=Differences between power of attorney,once an individual lacks capacity.
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/dementia-talking-point-our-online-community
When I say that my dad was incapable of understanding the decision, he was completely non verbal at the time LPA was granted...
My 95 year old Mum suffered all sorts of problems during the last couple of years of her life and I realised I had to act and get POA on both her medical & financial situation. I did it all on line without any hassle at all. Although dementia had kicked in and she was in a care home she understood enough to realise what I was suggesting and that she would have to sign.
I completed both the applications on line, printed off the docs and then got her to sign them with the care home manager as the witness. It was very straightforward and the main problem was the 8-10 weeks it takes for the docs to be approved.
If your mum is aware of what you are doing and knows she has to sign you should be in the same position as I was.
We all completed the forms together in my father in law's nursing home. the friend completed his ones making a statement of how he knew my father in law and how he was capable of making the decision and Power of Attorney was granted. What I don't recall is whether we needed the support of a doctor but I don't think so.
Without it a deputy has to be appointed to perform this function and this can cost a lot of money as they don't do it for free. Most importantly, nobody could care about my father in law's welfare more than his daughter and it took a worry away from him whilst he was still able to worry about it. We visited him often and my wife was able to address his needs without the worry that he may be exploited. Does your mum have a friend of more than two years who can help?
We are forcing her into a home next week
Get the forms if you haven't done so already and look through them.