Paying for Care Home whilst waiting for Court of Protection.

nad1611

Hi. My father has Dementia and lacks capacity and we are in the final stages of applying to the Court of Protection to Deputise my brother and I. Currently our application is in the Court as a paper hearing but they are about 8 weeks behind.
We have found what we feel is a very good Care Home, which Dad will be moving into tomorrow. As we don't have the right to access his bank funds to pay for this I spoke to the COP who have told us to fill out yet another form to apply to the Court to pay for this on Dad's behalf, the COP couldn't give us any time frame as to when this could be done. I have asked the Care Home to give us an invoice for payment.

Rather than wondering how long the process will take and not knowing how long the Care Home will be willing to wait for payment, I'm wondering if I took the invoice to Dad's Bank and said he needs to pay this invoice would they be able to do that. The invoice is addressed to him, so it's straightforward in that sense.

Also I'm a bit concerned that if I fill out COP9 Form and the Court access money to pay the fees, whether the bank will be alerted to the fact that Dad lacks capacity and freeze his account. This would be a problem because at present my brother who's been Dad's carer is still living in the home and certain bills will continue to be needed to be paid.

Any thoughts and advice gratefully received.

pmlindyloo

I should just speak to the care home and explain the situation. I am sure that they will wait for the money - they are used to this situation.

Any

No, not until you have authority for the account. Whether the invoice is in his name or not. Sorry.
While I understand your problem, just imagine anyone would bring any invoice with the right address on front and bank would pay that..

nad1611

Thanks for this, I should say that the bank know me and Dad well, so it's not like a complete stranger would turn up with an invoice demanding to be paid, I see this would be open to all sorts of problems otherwise.

Gavin83

nad1611 wrote: »

Thanks for this, I should say that the bank know me and Dad well, so it's not like a complete stranger would turn up with an invoice demanding to be paid, I see this would be open to all sorts of problems otherwise.

Doesn't matter, they can't deal with it until the COP is sorted.

My advice would have been to approach your council. They could have funded it until COP is sorted and you'd have probably got yourself a discount as well. As it is your best option is probably to speak to the provider, they'll be used to such situations and will likely wait.

Any

nad1611 wrote: »

Thanks for this, I should say that the bank know me and Dad well, so it's not like a complete stranger would turn up with an invoice demanding to be paid, I see this would be open to all sorts of problems otherwise.

Sorry, but while "rules are rules" sometimes is just over bearing bureaucracy, in this case it really is there for a reason..
Whether they know you or not.

Mrs_Boo_Boo

Had this with my mother-in-law, yes they will just have to wait. Same with any other company where authorisation has not been granted.

troubleinparadise

Gavin83 wrote: »

Doesn't matter, they can't deal with it until the COP is sorted.

My advice would have been to approach your council. They could have funded it until COP is sorted and you'd have probably got yourself a discount as well. As it is your best option is probably to speak to the provider, they'll be used to such situations and will likely wait.

I don't know if this has been your experience, but I cannot believe that if OP's father is self-funding that the LA would get involved in funding the shortfall in the interim, nor would the discount the LA has vs self-funders on care home places apply.

nad1611

Thanks for theadvice. I don't wish to anything other than by the borad, was imply seeing f there was a less lengthy solution. I think all in all I'll wait.
I have to ask as well Gavin83, I fnd it hard to believe that the Council would have stepped in here and in all likelihood the wait for that would probably have been just as long.

I think I'll let sleeping dogs lie and wait until the original application is fully processed and we know exactly what's what.

troubleinparadise

Dear Nad1611,

I don't know if you are already familiar with the Alzheimer's Society website & forum, but there's lots of useful advice on there.

So I apologise if this is covering old ground, but here is their factsheet on becoming a Deputy:

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=2478

nad1611

troubleinparadise wrote: »

Dear Nad1611,

I don't know if you are already familiar with the Alzheimer's Society website & forum, but there's lots of useful advice on there.

So I apologise if this is covering old ground, but here is their factsheet on becoming a Deputy:

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=2478

Thanks for this. Yes I often look through the Alzheimers website. I've just been reading what a minefield dealing with some of the banks can be when you do actually become a deputy, that will be a whole other issue no doubt.