Help - advice needed about Court of Protection

Lleucu

Thanks everybody. Really detailed reading from Richie, shocked at the fees charged by the COP.

I am not the one of the friends that want to keep him at home, merely as a semi retired social worker, people keep asking me questions.

Crudely as he has started wandering, he is probably not safe at home and will need to be admitted somewhere but his friends do not agree.

I would have thought that if S Services assessed with Health that he could stay at home, direct payments or IS could keep him going until the COP came into play.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Social Services can be either your best friend or your worst nightmare, as you will know. Your three immediate problem are (1) you have a very limited set of initial options all of them (2) dependant on his personal financial worth / and / or / income and (3) who will be accountable for his fundamental safety.

Without capacity even with all the willing support offered, nothing other than a very short term 'community' crutch can be made use of. I suspect you will end your collective quest with no where else to turn but SS as a meaningful medium to long term option with all the risks that it entails.

Wandering, will often result in SS being required by 'other agencies' to take on a mandatory rather than voluntary role, something I'm sure his friends are aware of and anxious about. If however he is 'wayfaring' out of control and without the supervision he needs for his safety perhaps it is time his friends asked the ultimate 'welfare' question - what if ?

Some people do recover, others not in any meaningfully independent way, and no one, even experts can give a time frame. I assume as he has been allowed to live in his own home without imposed supervision the decision makers, usually on O/T's recommendation have determined he is sufficiently safe in that environment. Its an awkward one for you Lleucu, I wish you well.

A Story

She, the little Irish lady was old enough to be my mother, lived near me, her kids babysat mine, our kids grew & flew hers first, mine later. COPD hubby finally managed after 12 years of sitting on a three legged stool at their front door, was granted a magnificent 4 wheel electric chair. For the first time in a decade the three legged stool disappeared and he went for the bread and milk every other day. He lasted five months, she, the little Irish lady went downhill quickly and wandered so much I'd be called frequently each week to collect her and reinstall he in her own home.

Then it started, 2am 4am knock knock. There she was with her sturdy 'bata' as if it was daylight asking if the kettle was on, cupa tea time ? Tea mashed and an hour alter I would regularly walk her back in the middle of the night only to find her front door wide open to the chav's and her 5 cats sat on the step waiting for her. Taking her home, making her warm & comfortable and locking her in her own home became too much of a responsibility for me.

Having notified the SS it was a mere two weeks till the six agency deep lady cleaners filled 6 full skips of that place that once was home to an Irish lady, husband and three kids. I've asked myself a million times, and no, there was no real alternative, and she had three kids who could have but chose not to move back in with the old Irish lady 6 skips of stuff 5 cats and a broken and that now damaged and useless 4 wheel electric chair still in the middle of her living room where where would never allow it to be moved from.

bah wah linn puh-tha tay

ionlywantohelp

I can't believe so many people express an 'opinion' regarding this matter.
Firstly there are many reasons why an attorney might need to see the will of a person still alive and can apply to the Court of Protection.
Obviously the date of the will is important if establishing the mental capacity of the testator, at the time the will was made, so seeing the will is the only way to establish the date
Why guess when all this information is freely available.
PS I have recently been involved in the making of a relatives will ( with accountant and solicitor ) and also been granted POA so do know what I am talking about.