Power of attorney

bryanb

As you said "Some years back" in your first post. You probably have an Enduring power of attorney, Cheaper than the modern Lasting power of attorney. Plus easier to set up without going to court etc. and still valid.
Google to find out the details though.

lessonlearned

runninglea wrote: »

If you have POA, then when does it actually start from?

Is it the date it was signed in court or when the person loses their ability to handle financial situations?

Who decides when it is time for the POA to be utilised?

It becomes "active" when it has been ratified by the Office of Guardianship. However, just because it is active you don't need use it until such time as it is needed, ie when the person concerned either cannot or does not want to handle their affairs.

Ie - my husband can no longer communicate or sign his name so I have POA. My mother has dementia and although still quite compus mentis simply cannot be bothered with it all. My father is perfectly sound and reasonably fit, he just wanted to plan ahead.

The POA is best registered and then it can be simply stored safely until such time as it is needed. Just because someone has set up and registered a POA doesn't mean that they can no longer handle their own affairs.

It is not wise to delay having it registered until the person becomes incapacitated because this makes things a lot more complicated.

runninglea

Thanks - I have POA for my Nanna

Recently she ended up in hospital, then respite in a nursing home, then following a fall remained in the home.

It is therefore a physical reason for being in the home not a mental condition

It is me however who is looking after her finances but on her say so.

She has to pay fees etc which is easy to manage as just one cheque each month.

However just because she is in a home, am I responsible for accounting for every thing that she spends?

lessonlearned

If she is self-funding then no, it's just between you and your nana.

If Social Services are paying her nursing fees it gets a bit more complicated. You have to be very careful about their rules regarding "Deprivation of Assets".

It all depends on the type of spending. Basically in such cases it's best to keep a paper trail of all money spent, so hang on to receipts etc.

runninglea

That's the problem I don't fully know what is getting spent!

On Tuesday she said she didn't have any money, so I put £100 in her purse.

She got her hair permed yesterday which is £27

However my wife has been today and she was asked by my Nan for some money.

My wife gave her £40.

I know it is her money at the end of the day!

Sorry she is self funding

chesky

runninglea wrote: »

That's the problem I don't fully know what is getting spent!

On Tuesday she said she didn't have any money, so I put £100 in her purse.

She got her hair permed yesterday which is £27

However my wife has been today and she was asked by my Nan for some money.

My wife gave her £40.

I know it is her money at the end of the day!




Sorry she is self funding

You probably shouldn't give her as much as £100 in cash - not because you want to hang on to her money but because she might be losing it. Others might be taking it, not from a criminal standpoint, but simply because they might not realise exactly what they're doing. You should find out from the staff what she spends her money on - I mean she won't need another perm for several weeks/months so it's important to know her needs so you can cater for them.

runninglea

No she wont need a perm for a while now but I know she gets her hair washed and set every Wednesday.

I know she sometimes asks for a 'takeout' meal which gets delivered and also gets the care assistants to buy items such as lucozade, coke, magazines etc.

I know she will give a note for whatever is on her list and she lets them keep the change

I think it is just at what point do you say ' sorry nanna but you can only have £30 per week' and her reply to me would be 'its my money'

I mentioned it to my mum last week who said well it is her money and when I went to see her she gave me £100

Biggles

bryanb wrote: »

As you said "Some years back" in your first post. You probably have an Enduring power of attorney, Cheaper than the modern Lasting power of attorney. Plus easier to set up without going to court etc. and still valid.
Google to find out the details though.

Good point, Bryan, if it was signed before 1 Oct 2007 it will be an Enduring Power of Attorney (three or four sides of white A4 text).

If it was signed from 1 Oct 07 onwards, it will be a Lasting Power of Attorney (about 11 sides of pastel green/blue A4 set out with boxes and graphics).

The former can be used without registration until the Donor begins to lose mental capacity, the latter can't be used at all until it's registered.

Gers

Just a wee note to say that the laws are different in Scotland -just in case!

http://www.publicguardian-scotland.gov.uk/docs/POA%20Guide.pdf

moneyistooshorttomention

Thanks for that description/timing of the different types of POA.

From that, I seem to recall it was a smallish white document - which would make it the old-fashioned version then and looks as if it doesnt have to be "registered" at any point.

I presume, from that, that if I thought "Mother seems to be making more illogical decisions than normal and on a consistent basis...I'm pretty darn sure I know what this is going on here...:eek:" then I guess I could step in at that point - and wait for yet another row with my mother because she remembered things differently to what actually happened again...sighs...

I am watching and the undeserved nasty comments are coming more frequently, she is remembering things differently to the way they are more frequently, I've seen her get lost in a place she knows very well....and it's worrying..both as regards her welfare and I'm obviously not happy at having nasty comments "thrown at me" and having to exercise self-restraint not to say anything in return (not that it would work anyway I'm sure - I'd still find another nasty comment getting "thrown" before long). My father can keep her comments "under control" to some extent and I'm not looking forward to the Unedited Version I'm anticipating once he's gone...:(.


I note the comment re it being impractical to try and operate a POA from hundreds of miles away and wonder how the two would compare - of trying to do that on the one hand or operate without a POA at all on the other hand. Either way - I foresee distinct "differences of opinion" with my brother whatever happens...but I guess having POA might make it easier for me to say to him "I note your comments - but I'm the one who has POA and my word goes. End of discussion" - so it might be best to stick with it from that pov. Obviously, I won't be on the spot to hand her cash if she wants it. All I could do financially would be ask for her bills to be redirected to me and pay out from her bank account to cover them. There won't be anyone at all on the spot to do anything that CAN only be done in person. If she ends up in a home, then the best I could do is hope I'd picked a good one with someone trustworthy in charge and they would duly honestly cash any cheques I sent them from her account and give her spending money as per my instructions.