Buying a home with early stage Alzheimer's

GDB2222

Any particular reason why you need to use this solicitor at this firm? 

skm1981

Thanks for all the helpful responses.  No particular reason why we want to use this firm, I used them for my sale and purchase a while back and they did a decent job.  That was the only reason, but we're not going to use them because they've said we can't exchange or complete until the LPA is finalized and I just think I'll save my time by using another firm than arguing it out with them.  But the lady I've been emailing there has said that we may find this issue with another firm.  

We just want to get the process done and dusted as soon as possible because he really wants to move from London.  He hates living there and we're just nearby so can help him a lot quicker and easier.

herebeme

Do let us know if you find a solicitor who will take your Dad, I see no reason why not, but very interested.

Gers

On another point - a registration can sometimes be expedited.  Last year I made my POA and was told that there was a 16 week delay (Scotland).  My solicitor requested an expedited registration as I was due to fly to Australia for a long'ish family holiday.  It came through in two days.

Of course, I'm not sure if the system can work the same in England, though it's worth asking if you are concerned about capacity.

elsien

I think Scotland is different with being able to expedite. Doesn't apply in England. Although the OP could phone OPG to ask the question and check about current timescales - be prepared for up to an hour wait on the phone. 

cheekyweegit

A General Power of Attorney under Powers of Attorney Act 1977 Section 10 might be the answer to your problem.  This document (you can get a template online) does not need to be done by a solicitor or registered with the courts so is essentially free to put in place as long as the donor (your dad) has capacity which it sounds like from what you have said still does.

This document can literally be  hand written on the back of an old Christmas / birthday card and be perfectly valid.  Although more formal looking paper work / actual templates with the wording you need are available online.  You can download /  print the template and take it from there.

A good source of information is available here and it's something I find very useful for customers who do still have capacity but are waiting on Power of Attorney coming though.  I don't work in the property industry though, and many folk don't know this exists.

I have no affilation to this website, I just find it one of the easiest to refer to as it explains things in plain English about the General Power of Attorney with no fancy legal jargon.

As long as your dad has capacity this would be valid and should work for you, the document would fall if / when he lost capacity altogether but by this time the full Power of Attorney you have applied for (Property & Finance would be needed for the sale of his property / control of his bank account as opposed to Health & Welfare for say hospital treatment or even chosing a care home) .

I've mentioned both there as it's amazing how many folks don't realise the difference or have one or the other and not both, same for joint and severally or just jointly for the Power of Attorney i.f there is more than one.

Joint & severally where there is more than one Power of Attorney, if something happens to one or is even on holiday the others still can act for the donor without the other(s).  This document doesn't fall if something happens to one of the Powers of Attorney eg husband acts for wife, but also has children as other Powers of Attorney, husband passes away, the children can still act for his wife.

Jointly - nothing can be done with out the signature of them all, plus if one passes away, the whole document falls and deputyship, a longer more drawn out process would possibly need to be applied for if the customer has lost capacity.  This one often sadly causes a lot of problems.

Also just for others reading and sorry if too late for yourself they donor maybe entitled to an exemption or remission of the registration fee.  More information on this can be found here.

Hope you find this information useful.

pinkteapot

Genuine question for the knowledgeable here: Does OP's dad even need to mention to a solicitor when engaging them that he's had the diagnosis and has applied for an LPA?

Has the fact it's been mentioned got the solicitor nervous about acting for him? (Agree it shouldn't for all the reasons given!)

OP: Is your dad able to speak to an instruct the solicitor himself? Why are you liaising with them? If he's not really able to do it then presumably it is a situation where someone with PoA needs to be acting for him... 

skm1981

pinkteapot said:

Genuine question for the knowledgeable here: Does OP's dad even need to mention to a solicitor when engaging them that he's had the diagnosis and has applied for an LPA?

Has the fact it's been mentioned got the solicitor nervous about acting for him? (Agree it shouldn't for all the reasons given!)

OP: Is your dad able to speak to an instruct the solicitor himself? Why are you liaising with them? If he's not really able to do it then presumably it is a situation where someone with PoA needs to be acting for him... 

Haven't been on for a while, so just thought I'd update.  Well this is exactly what we did.  We just basically didn't tell them my dad has Alzheimer's and, well, they haven't asked.  My dad is able to speak for himself, he does get a bit confused and repeats himself a lot, but he can still function enough for people to not know about his condition.

Thanks for all the responses.  

thegreenone

@skm1981 Has your Dad moved yet?