Power of Attorney system is exposing people with mental health problems to financial... MSE News

MSE_Luke

New research by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI) shows that many people with mental health problems are struggling to safely gain support from family and friends, because of the complexity and ineffectiveness of tools such as Power of Attorney...

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'Power of Attorney system is exposing people with mental health problems to financial abuse, says new report'

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[Deleted User]

It's highly offensive to suggest that all Attorneys are a bunch of self-interested fraudsters, which is being implied by the majority here - and Martin's post. I was Attorney to my mother and now I'm Attorney to her third husband, who has advanced Alzheimer's. In both cases, I haven't taken a penny in expenses - and those, if totted up, would easily run to three figures for each of them. I've dealt with everything in an honest and above-board fashion, treating them as I would wish to be treated myself. And I don't ask for anyone else's help, in spite of the burden of running another person's life being quite a heavy one at times. So, please beware of making gross generalisations - there will always be bad people out there, but generally people are good.

g8bdy

I gained POA for my elderly mother, It was nothing but a nightmare to use
One water comany accused me of submitting a fake, as it had no wax seal issued by the Office of the Public Guardian
A senior manager eventually admitted their guidlines to their Customer Service staff, was well out of date and mine was valid
Numerous others wanted it verified by a Stockbroker/Solicitor or Barrister - to which I have no access
NS&I accepted the POA and returned it. Thats was the last I heard from them - the request was totally ignored.
In one instance I was told to get it certified by the Donor, when it was submitted it was rejected because they deemed the Doner mentally incapable of signing the document
I had to get my mother on the phone, to tell them in no uncertain terms she was certainy not mentally impaired.
Every single case where I tried to use the POA, I was frustrated with bureaucracy
If you think having a POA will make life easier to deal with your relatives affairs, from my experience that will not be the case.

elsien

I'm querying why the report says it's all or nothing.
If the power of attorney is set up so it doesn't just kick in when someone loses capacity, would that not allow for supported decision making and for the person to have help for some aspects of their finances and not others?

colsten

Deleted_User wrote: »

It's highly offensive to suggest that all Attorneys are a bunch of self-interested fraudsters, which is being implied by the majority here

Huh? who are the majority here that you are accusing? Can you show where the abuse happened?

Deleted_User wrote: »

So, please beware of making gross generalisations - there will always be bad people out there, but generally people are good.

I couldn't have said it better!