Have been accused of Abuse of Power of Attorney

FeistyFidget

Will try to keep this brief and to the basics, but as with most family disagreements, it is quite lengthy - please bear with me.

My Nan suffered a stroke in October 2011 - It was discovered that she had dementia. A solicitor deemed her mental capacity enough to request my Mother and cousin (very close relationship) become her power or attorney. The eldest child believed that as legal next of kin she should have been power of attorney, however this was directly against my Nan's wishes.

Originally my Nan was being cared for by family members (mainly my cousin) - her eldest daughter did not want involvement in her day to day care. My Nan received carers for 30 minutes, 3 times a day - she did not like to have them in her home and would frequently refuse care. We were unable to leave her alone during the day and it became very difficult to manage between us.

In August 2012 she was offered respite care in a state Nursing home as her main carer (my cousin) underwent an operation. During this time my Nan was re-assessed and it was advised that she needed full time care - it was agreed she would need to move into a residential home. We fought to have her placed in a private care home that was only partially funded - the costs were £800 a week and it soon became apparent that her home needed to be sold.

It was appraised and placed on the open market at the advised price. One sale fell through and then my Uncle decided to purchase, the sale was discounted to what would have been market value minus the estate agents fees.

During this time it was explained to my Nan that the house was being sold, but due to her Alzheimers she kept forgetting. The eldest daughter then decided to go in and tell Nan that she no longer had a home as we had sold it out from under her. Another Auntie (big family of 9) decided to go in and try the same tactic.

Finally my Mother stepped in and made a phone call (recorded and logged) to advise the two older daughters that if any further mental abuse was dolled out, she would seek legal counsel to protect my Nan.

This morning both my Mum and Cousin have received letters from the Office of the Public Guardian advising a complaint is being investigated by them - they have requested to see all financial documents, receipts etc - a detailed log of all visitors to my Nan, why the house was sold, why the court wasn't sought for permission to sell the house to a family member (solicitor did not advise that this was needed) and lots of other detailed bits and pieces.

The problem is they want all of this by 29th March! My cousin is now very upset as she hasn't been keeping strict records of purchases - she was only trying to care for our Nan. We are now worried that power of attorney will be handed over to someone else, someone that is against the house sale (inheritance) and will place my Nan in a state run care home.

Does anyone have any advice at all? We are all at our wits end

fluffnutter

Haven't got any advice I'm afraid, but it never fails to amaze me how even the closest families can fall out over money. Brings out the worst in people.

FeistyFidget

I know I have my suspicions that this boils down to family members feeling they are being "cheated" out of an inheritance as the money is being spent on Nan.

cte1111

I think the first thing to do is to go back to the solicitor who drew up the PoA. Are they also dealing with the house sale? If so, then they will hopefully be able to give information to the Office of the Public Guardian and also advise you all of the best way forward.

UsernameAlreadyExists

I have no advice either, other then scrape together as much as you can.

I have an opinion though ...
From what you've said ... I don't think you have anything to worry about, they're "investigating" the complaint. I personally think that the complaint is wholly ungrounded and they may very well conclude the same. It's a sad state of affairs but I don't think any rational human being could conclude that your Nan's estate being used to fund the best care for her isn't the right thing to do. It is, after all, her money and it is NOT inheritance. The fact that you didn't "dot the i's and cross the t's" or some other technicality isn't reason enough to take away the POA as yours intention are all well meant.

troubleinparadise

When the OPG receives a complaint or accusation of financial abuse, they have to investigate - which is quite reasonable if you think about it (although it feels awful if it is you that is being investigated). It doesn't take much to set that ball rolling in terms of a complaint.

Just supply (copies) of whatever invoices, fees, bills etc Mum & Cousin have that have been paid for, bank statements, whatever, that relates to Nan's money and how it has been spent. You also have the positive angle of the Solicitor who has been involved, who will be able to vouch for some of the activities. There will also be back-up from the medical professionals/Social Services re why Nan went into residential care etc.

It may well be useful to write them the story as it is seen from your side's perspective about what the sequence of events has been.

They will look into what they receive, and come back to you if they need to for further information.

Try looking on the Alzheimer's Society website for some more information, as there are Forum members there who have been through the same situation:

http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/forumdisplay.php?60-Legal-and-Financial-Issues

It seems scary, there is a bit of photocopying and organised admin to do, but it can be managed by the deadline. Good luck!

Yorkie1

cte1111 wrote: »

I think the first thing to do is to go back to the solicitor who drew up the PoA. Are they also dealing with the house sale? If so, then they will hopefully be able to give information to the Office of the Public Guardian and also advise you all of the best way forward.

I agree, this has to be the way forward.

The solicitor should be experienced in Court of Protection matters and can advise you properly.

FeistyFidget

Thank you everyone - it is an extremely upsetting and stressful time for all involved. My worry is that they may decide to the same a few months down the line as from what I have read on the Alzheimer's forums there is nothing to stop them from doing so

We tried the solicitor first thing, they are out until Tuesday now, will be in touch then.

meritaten

I think you need to go back to the solicitor who drew up the original 'Power of Attorney'. This will show that your mum and cousin were the main caregivers and that this was with your nans agreement.
You could also get statements from the state nursing home. this would show that your nan needed more care than you could provide.
I am sure that your cousin and mum were acting to the best of their ability and records will show this.

mountainofdebt

Just to give you the heads up, 29th March is Good Friday ie a bank holiday

susancs

Yorkie1 wrote: »

I agree, this has to be the way forward.

The solicitor should be experienced in Court of Protection matters and can advise you properly.

I am sure the solicitor would have contacted the C.O.P to get a court order to sell the property and to get authorisation to sell to a relative. When my husband as his Uncle's court appointed guardian had to sell his Uncle's house for his ongoing care home costs, his order stated that the had to sell through an estate agents and solicitors approved by the court and he could not sell to a family member. The solicitor said this was usual to protect the Guardian and family members from allegations of financial abuse. I suspect in realtion to your mum and cousin's Guardianship the solicitors would have made a case to sell to the relative and have documentation to prove it was all done at the full market value etc so I doubt there is anything to worry about. The Court does spot check on accounting records and to see if the person is in the care home every so often, but when they came to our house to do so we found they were very nice and supportive.