New power of attorney guide

Savvy_Sue

pphillips said:

maceyratbags said:

My father naively took on LPA for a friend who was housebound. He was never given advice and although utilities were DD from his friends account, he shopped for her every week by withdrawing cash and broke the cardinal rule of LPA by not keeping receipts.  He did this for over 12 years, did her washing, cleaning, gardening, property repairs and cooked for her. Her will was never mentioned and she hadn’t changed it in decades. On her death her property and money was left to charity which my father didn’t have any problem with at all. Unfortunately though, her solicitor is now demanding he repays every penny that was withdrawn totalling over £60k, as there isn’t paperwork to back the withdrawals despite it being obvious what the money was used for. He is now facing court and it’s had a detrimental affect on his health (and my own) he’s in his 70s. 

Strange that the solicitor knows that he was an an attorney under the LPA but doesn't believe he had used any of the money for her benefit. Also hard to believe there are no witnesses who saw him looking after her and her property.

I am so sorry to hear this. It is possible that the charity is leaning on the solicitor. I hope there can be a reasonable resolution. 

MrsKAMcy

Do you have to have a lasting power of attorney for your spouse? Or is this covered by marriage?

pphillips

MrsKAMcy said:

Do you have to have a lasting power of attorney for your spouse? 

Yes, it's exactly the same procedure - no such thing as automatic power of attorney.
Some couples bypass an LPA by holding all their money and property in joint names.

Primrose

This is fine but if one of the partners has to go into care the local authority may need to assess their individual assets and having miney in joint names could risk the other person,s share being potentially compromised.  When my parents had to go into care ai so,it their cash assets into separate names for the benefit of clarity.

Savvy_Sue

pphillips said:

MrsKAMcy said:

Do you have to have a lasting power of attorney for your spouse? 

Yes, it's exactly the same procedure - no such thing as automatic power of attorney.
Some couples bypass an LPA by holding all their money and property in joint names.

Primrose said:

This is fine but if one of the partners has to go into care the local authority may need to assess their individual assets and having miney in joint names could risk the other person,s share being potentially compromised.  When my parents had to go into care ai so,it their cash assets into separate names for the benefit of clarity.

The other risk with having everything in joint names is that if one loses capacity, the banks may freeze joint accounts to protect the assets of the one without capacity - regardless of how that leaves the other party! It's not an UNreasonable thing to do: it stops the person with capacity from taking the opportunity to run off with all the money, but it can cause serious problems. 

Rosie1980

Always have an LPA for a spouse, joint accounts or not, it is vital and guarantees you can access money and deal with your affairs in the event of the other being incapacitated. You can do it yourself online for free, it's really easy. You just have to pay to register it.

christine_cook

My 88 year old Uncle was taken from Hospital,( against the wishes of the hospital, and without notifying relatives) 2 years ago by a lady he knew to live with him as he had only a few months to live. I am his next of kin, his Niece, and  was not aware of this till it was done. Uncle said he wanted to stay with her as she was a nurse, and mum of his Friend. He changed his will in her favour after a few weeks- she is  a Jehova Witness, he is not. She put him in a Care home a year ago and a few weeks ago he told staff there, and me, that he was now frightened of her because she wants to move him to a cheaper home and he didnt want to go. He is now in hospital and because he said she was manipulative I asked for Safeguarding in case she tries to move him again. He also says he wants her not to have power of Attorney any more over his affairs. The social worker said he can find no record over her having POA and I should apply for it  myself as his next of kin. How do I do that if he is not always lucid as he is not eating much...and I cannot travel until there is an antidote to Covid as I am at extreme risk due to Diabetes and severe Asthma. She is in his will as having 80% of his house...but we want our Uncle back if only to bury him in the way he always wanted...and not in the way she has planned. He is not a Jehova Witness

pphillips

christine_cook said:

My 88 year old Uncle was taken from Hospital,( against the wishes of the hospital, and without notifying relatives) 2 years ago by a lady he knew to live with him as he had only a few months to live. I am his next of kin, his Niece, and  was not aware of this till it was done. Uncle said he wanted to stay with her as she was a nurse, and mum of his Friend. He changed his will in her favour after a few weeks- she is  a Jehova Witness, he is not. She put him in a Care home a year ago and a few weeks ago he told staff there, and me, that he was now frightened of her because she wants to move him to a cheaper home and he didnt want to go. He is now in hospital and because he said she was manipulative I asked for Safeguarding in case she tries to move him again. He also says he wants her not to have power of Attorney any more over his affairs. The social worker said he can find no record over her having POA and I should apply for it  myself as his next of kin. How do I do that if he is not always lucid as he is not eating much...and I cannot travel until there is an antidote to Covid as I am at extreme risk due to Diabetes and severe Asthma. She is in his will as having 80% of his house...but we want our Uncle back if only to bury him in the way he always wanted...and not in the way she has planned. He is not a Jehova Witness

Unless there is someone else to help get the POA forms completed, your uncle may need to instruct a solicitor.

Malthusian

The social worker said he can find no record over her having POA and I should apply for it  myself as his next of kin.

If he has capacity to make a new Lasting Power of Attorney then it's him that needs to apply for it. You and/or he need to contact a solicitor. If he has capacity at some times and not others they will be able to ensure that he makes the POA while he has capacity, and verify that this was the case; they may need a healthcare professional to be present. He can fix his Will at the same time.

You should not need to be physically in contact with any of them as they just need your signature.

If he does not have capacity to make a POA at all then the Court of Protection will make decisions for him and you will need to apply for Deputyship to make decisions on his behalf, which is slower and more expensive.

Rosie1980

For anyone making a Health and Welfare LPA this website is useful to compliment that document. It easily allows you to create an Advanced Decision and Advanced Statement document.
www.mydecisions.org.uk