Court of protection

Payless_2

Last week I received forms to apply for deputyship over Mam's finances and personal welfare - she has alzheimer's. In total there were 10 forms and some were duplicated. So I rang them on Monday and they told me that they were duplicated because me and my brother are applying for joint deputyship and we need to fill one set in each. In fact, they said, I am missing a deputy's declaration form as we have to fill in 2 of these each:eek:.

On Friday I rang them again as I didn't understand some of the questions. The person I spoke to that time said that I had too many forms and I need only fill one set in and put my brother's name in the appropriate places. He only needs to complete the deputy's declaration. When I asked about the forms he gave me some advice but when I said "Does that mean that this is where I put .....", he said "we aren't allowed to tell you what to write on them."

Is this a ploy to increase the bank balances of solicitors? It costs £400 for them to make a decision as it is. Lot's of questions are very similar to each other and the booklet they send is totally unhelpful as is the guidance at the back of the forms.

Would supplying some examples be so hard? And why don't their staff agree with one another?

Paul_Varjak

I think that is the problem with Courts - they are not allowed to give advice, so are not trained to give advice as it would destroy the impartiality of the court system.

Sorry, but I have no experience in Court of Protection matters. Luckily, my mother asked for Power of Attorney whilst fully mentally capable; in that instance, it is actually quite easy to get template Power of Attorney forms you fill out yourself (LawPack @ W.H. Smith?).

Unfortunately, in your case, that would not be applicable.

Payless_2

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

I think that is the problem with Courts - they are not allowed to give advice, so are not trained to give advice as it would destroy the impartiality of the court system.

Sorry, but I have no experience in Court of Protection matters. Luckily, my mother asked for Power of Attorney whilst fully mentally capable; in that instance, it is actually quite easy to get template Power of Attorney forms you fill out yourself (LawPack @ W.H. Smith?).

Unfortunately, in your case, that would not be applicable.

If we ever get this sorted out for my mother I fully intend to get those forms for myself. The power of alzheimer's can't be underestimated. Mam doesn't even think that she is ill and so won't have carers.. She goes to see her GP and can't remember what she was told and loses the prescription. She gets thousands of pounds from the bank and then leaves her bag on the bus or in a shop.

Apparently this process takes about 6 months and it looks as if it will take me about a month to complete the forms. By that time there'll be little left to protect.

Paul_Varjak

@Payless

We are always encouraged (at whatever age) to get a Will made, but rarely encouraged to get a Power of Attorney document drawn up. I think the two should go hand-in-hand.

I knew what a Will was when I was probably aged about eight! But did not know what a Power of Attorney was until I was well into my forties! I suppose because death is an inevitability but dementia is not!

Like you indicate, your mother is not in a position to realise her situation but you certainly do and have genuine concerns for her safety and wellbeing.

I just wish I could offer more assistance but I simply have no experience.

newleaf

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

@Payless

We are always encouraged (at whatever age) to get a Will made, but rarely encouraged to get a Power of Attorney document drawn up. I think the two should go hand-in-hand.

I knew what a Will was when I was probably aged about eight! But did not know what a Power of Attorney was until I was well into my forties! I suppose because death is an inevitability but dementia is not!

Like you indicate, your mother is not in a position to realise her situation but you certainly do and have genuine concerns for her safety and wellbeing.

I just wish I could offer more assistance but I simply have no experience.

So very true.

WhiteHorse

It used to be difficult to get a job in the Civil Service. Judging by the arrogant, semi-literate halfwits that I have to deal with on a regular basis, there are no entry criteria at all anymore.

Except parroting the latest political line of course ...

Norant

Hello Payless.


I know just what you are going through,i am to going through the same process however for a different reason.


My brother was in a car accident two years ago,the accident was not his fault and he suffered a broken neck,broken back in three places,and also Traumatic brain injury.He is still in a brain rehabilitation unit today.

I have the paperwork to become his guardian,so i know what you are going through,it is a tough process and it seems that everytime you get in contact that you seem to get nowhere,the questions can be quite daunting aswell.

the only thing i can suggest is get yourself a good solicitor who deals with this area,and also your gp can be very useful,i wish you all the luck in the world,and even though it might sound daunting your Mum is going to need you to help sort out her finances for her,this is where you payback all the years that your Mum looked after you.

Its your turn now to be there for her.



good luck.

Rosie75

You have my sympathy - I've seen how stressful the whole process is. My husband and his brother had to apply to be deputies for his mother (who has dementia). It took nearly a year to sort out. By the time it was sorted, his father had to go into a home for similar reasons and the whole process started again - once more, taking nearly a year. Then the fun and games really started when OH and brother had to deal with all the bank accounts - my in-laws weren't the kind to keep their paperwork organised, they're more the sort to throw letters behind the sofa or chuck them out, so it took months to even ascertain where they held bank accounts. Then the banks were a total nightmare - all sorts of problems from the person on the phone not knowing what a deputy is, to paperwork going missing and having to be filled in five times (OH and brother having to go in together each time, despite both living 40 miles from the bank in question). Sorting out the finances took another six months. To top it off, social services started getting impatient about when the bills were going to be paid and started hassling my OH on a weekly basis, even threatening legal action. At one point he got so fed up that he told social services he'd had enough of the whole thing, that he was under no legal obligation to deal with his parents' finances and that they should apply to the court of protection themselves if they thought they could do it any quicker. And now it turns out that, as deputies, they don't actually have the power to sell their parents' home to pay for the care home fees and there's another lot of forms to fill in to do that. Personally, I don't understand why my OH and his brother decided to become deputies. As far as I can see, the only people that benefit from all their work and stress are social services.

Norant

My brother was a passenger in the vehicle that was involved in the accident,the driver escaped with a fractured wrist,my brother took the impact of the vehicle that hit them.

I have been arranged as his appiontee,and the solicitors wanted me to go for full power of attorney for my brother,i decided that having full power of attorney would actaully stop my brother from progressing,so after a lot of examinations by doctors and others,it was decided that i should go for Deputyship.I want my brother to learn again to use his own bank account,to cook for himself,to deal with his own personall finances,however i also want to be there to make sure that no one takes advantage of him.

My brother has been in brain rehab now for two years and he is coming on so well its unbelievable,he knows how much he has in the bank....but if for example i said to him we should go out and buy a pair of socks how much would we need to take out of the bank? he would reply something like £100.00.

If i was to have gone for full power of attorney that would have been the easy way out,for me to take care of everything would have been easy,but my brother would have learned nothing and as i see it that is counterproductive.He was put aside as being unable to learn,but he has shown them that with the love and help of family,he has come on leaps and bounds asstounding the doctors that first treated him.

Im still in the process of deputyship,we will have to see what happens.

Payless_2

Thank you everyone for your support. I have decided to leave the rest of the forms until the easter holidays as I am just getting so stressed with them when I'm trying to complete them in between work and going to Mam's. Luckily Mam's GP has already said that she will back us to the hilt. She is very aware of the problems Mam has had with her money. Unluckily, this GP is off sick at the moment and I would prefer her to do Mam's assessment as she know more than is actually down in her records. However this does take some of the pressure off me to complete them quickly.

Rosie, I completely sympathize with your husbands problems. I believe that you have to ask for everything that you conceive that you may want control of now and in the future. If you forget something then you have to do it all again. But how do you know what to list? I have never been through this before, much like your husband and his brother. I only know that future control must also be applied for because I read it on the Alzheimer's Society website. The court of protection should make this plain at the outset.

My chief gripe is the lack of help and information available from them. I really don't want to get solicitors involved because of the cost but the £400 charge applies for each application for the control that you didn't think of in the preceding application so it could end up cheaper in the long run.

Anyhow, thanks again everyone

PopeSock

Have you tried contacting your local Age Concern, if you have a centre and not a charity shop near you? Some branches offer advice, and it sounds like this might be right up their street.