Guardianship/ Appointee/Solicitor

JukeHogan

Hi, I am in need of some advice from you good people. 
My father suffered a stroke recently which took all of his cognitive awareness, leaving him in a generally confused state unable to make decisions for himself. It's clearly too late for an LPA now, so his Social Worker has asked me (as his NoK) to look into obtaining authority to make decisions on his behalf - both for health & finance issues. I have only been back in touch with him these last few years and know very little about his financial status (pensions, benefits, etc), though I would guess he has less than £23k in assets so he should be entitled to financial assistance.
Would anyone know the most efficient route for me to obtain this status? Whether it be a Guardianship/Appointee/Deputyship, etc? I know very little about this (even after trying to research). I also don't want to spend a considerable amount of money on a solicitor if there is an alternative.

Thanks in advance.  

MTwallet_2

Hi

A couple of questions

Will your father need to go into a care home?

and

Is he a home owner?

elsien

It depends which country you are in.
Appointee is to manage DWP benefits and state pension. It does not give access to existing bank accounts and does not allow for tenancies, sale of property, or automatic right for financial providers to talk to you. You do an appointeeship directly with the DWP, so no solicitor involved. 
Become an appointee for someone claiming benefits - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


Guardianship is a Scottish thing and does not apply in England and Wales and other than that I know nothing about it. If  necessary if in England/Wales you would need to apply for a financial deputyship which can take a long time and has an ongoing cost implication hence the questions about assets - the court of protection has a long backlog at the moment. You can apply to be appointee in the interim which would usually take about 3 months and will allow you to have have any pensions etc paid into an account of your choice so your father has some money in the meantime. 

Health and welfare deputyships are rarely granted outside of specific decisions because it is considered for most people the best interests process under the Mental Capacity Act offers adequate safeguards. 
Deputies: make decisions for someone who lacks capacity - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

MTwallet_2

Another couple

What his marital status - single/married/widower etc?

How old is he?

tomtom256

Might be worth looking getting a power of attorney for him. This will allow you to deal with all of his affairs.

dr0psofjupiter

tomtom256 said:

Might be worth looking getting a power of attorney for him. This will allow you to deal with all of his affairs.

You cannot obtain power of attorney after the person has become incapacitated. It must be done beforehand because the attorney has to appoint the donor which is only legally possible if the donor has the capacity to do so at that time. It can't be retrospective. Providing the OP is in England/Wales the option is to apply to the Court of Protection to become their deputy. As a previous poster stated though the backlog on this is quite a few years right now.

MTwallet_2

Just to give a view of Deputyships.

My father in law was suffering from Dementia and had to go into a care home. His wife was expected to out live him but during a routine operation she died on the operating table. My father in laws decline was so fast that we did not get chance to set up a POA. As the house was jointly owned it transferred immediately to him. As his care home costs were £40,000 a year we applied to get a Deputyship to enable us to sell his house and fund his care home costs, not ideal but it seemed the best option.

I applied myself to save on solicitors fees at a cost of £365 but I had to get a professional to say he was unable to make his own decisions, cost £260.

I had the Deputyship granted but the one thing I wanted which was to sell his property was not given. That made the Deputyship in my case worthless.

My original application was granted 13th November 2020 but having received the authority I immediately appealed because I couldn't sell the house. As the Deputyship was worthless it sat in my drawer.

On January 1st 2021 my father in law passed away at the care home. I immediately wrote to cancel the Deputyship and on receipt of the death certificate I forwarded it to them.

Even now they are still chasing me for money, I have had two letters one asking for £100 followed by a second asking for £212.

The point of this post is, think long and hard before applying for a Deputyship, through a solicitor it will cost around £2,000 and at the end of it they may not give you the authority you ask for. There are annual costs in holding the Deputyship so be sure you actually need one before applying.

The reason I replied to this thread was, I was trying to stop someone applying who may not require it

JukeHogan

Thanks all for your input. I should add he lives in England, is divorced, has no assets & is 82 years old. He was living with a lady (& paying rent I think) however he has no recollection of her or her daughter, and is now permanently resident in a care home. The local authority are asking me to act for him so they can establish if he is liable for any contribution to his care home stay.  We are now looking into the possibility of the LPA route, as he has verbally indicated to me he would like me to act on his behalf. The only stumbling block here is to get a 'Certificate Provider' - someone who he has known for at least two years and can try & explain to him the process so he is not being pressurised into something he doesn't want to do. I understand it is possible for a Social Worker (whom I've asked) or a Doctor to carry out this duty. As a matter of interest to anyone else in this situation I will keep the thread updated.