Advice on LPA

fatherandson

My elderly father sadly has dementia and has reached a point where he can't manage his finances (as assessed by social services). He had a finance (and medical) LPA put in place a number of years ago for just this type of situation, and sadly it is now time for my sister and I to step in and help as his attorneys.

Unfortunately his dementia is stopping him from processing this properly and he is in denial about the whole situation. As such he does not want us to help and to be as independent as possible. Unfortunately we can't let the status quo go on and really do need to step in otherwise he won't have a roof over his head.

Does anybody have any pointers to good reading material on how we use an LPA in such cases (where the person disagrees with their attorney's). We need to make sure we do this right and give my father both as much independence as we can whilst providing protection. Are there legal firms that specialise in giving advise to attorney's, although we have limited funds for expensive lawyers?

Browntoa

What are the financial issues ? Excessive spending ? 

This guide explains simply about taking over someone's bank account and finances 

https://www.gov.uk/lasting-power-attorney-duties/property-financial-affairs

fatherandson

Numerous, he's been scammed multiple times in the last year. He takes people at face value, so if you turn up on his doorstep and say your roof needs redoing, he will say go ahead. He's just making generally bad decisions.

We know that making bad decisions is not a reason to use an LPA. That's why we reached out to Social Services and asked for help. They assessed him and gave the view that he no longer had the ability to manage his financial affair's.

Browntoa

I'd go down the bank account route 

fatherandson

I guess I'm struggling to express myself. I'm really after someone to talk to advise on how we proceed. We have the LPA, we have assessment that he can't manage, BUT he doesn't want us to manage his financial affairs. He doesn't see that he has a problem.

Are there groups out that there provide advice? Should we be looking for a solicter to give us legal advice? We are completely lost. 

JGB1955

You need to register the Power of Attorney with the Office of the Public Guardian.  Your father will be notified of your application and can object.  He will have to pay a fee to make an objection.  The end decision is not in his hands.

See... https://www.gov.uk/object-registration-power-attorney

The OPG can be contacted on 0300 456 0300 and should be able to offer some guidance.

fatherandson

JGB1955 said:

You need to register the Power of Attorney with the Office of the Public Guardian.

The LPA is already register with the OPG - this was put in place a couple of years ago whilst the dementia was still in it's early stages. He has been deemed unfit by social services to manage his financial affairs. So we could start taking over management of his finances as his attorney's today. 

But he feels strongly that he can manage them himself and doesn't recognise that he needs help. The dementia doesn't help as he struggles to remember conversations we have had. 

I feel really lost with this. It's hard enough coping with what this terrible disease is doing to my father! I just don't know what to do with his finances - are there organisations out there that can advise LPA attorneys on the steps to take?

Savvy_Sue

I'd have thought AgeUK, Alzheimers Society and Hourglass (used to be Action on Elder Abuse) would all be good places to start. 

Fireflyaway

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk
There is a section on the website all about power of attorney, finances and deprivation of liberty ( when people are no longer at liberty to make decisions for themselves because it could cause them harm). There is also a phone line you can call.