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urgent help re court of protection

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my husbands aunt has lived alone since her husband died approx two years ago. she has dementia and has carers in 3 times a day. my husband and I visit fairly regularly and so do other family members. 

last week a solicitor called my husband and asked to meet him at the aunts house yesterday. he was then given a paper showing on the 17th February they had obtained a court order and appointed a deputy for all her financial matters . they also said they have done a redirection of her post to themselves.  now my aunts husband was my husbands uncle.   they had mirrow wills and the estate once they are no longer with us will go to my mother in law then her children. the document states they are immediately taking 100 k in from her estate.without family members knowledge until now. 

the aunt owns her own home and has considerable monies. 

the document shows it went through on the 17th feb and we only have 21 days to appeal. Friday! this is appalling in our family minds. we had no idea this was going on. 

we are all visiting my aunt fairly regularly and we are all happy to deal with her finances and wellbeing .

have spoken to age concern this am and also husband is now after 3 hours of getting nowhere on phones down the court waiting to speak to someone . 

Has anyone else been in this situation? 


we are not after the aunts money but want obviously to have the best care for her even if we were to get 24/7 care in.we also want to know if they can go against the uncles and aunts will wishes. 

any advice will be greatfully accepted. thanks for reading. 


Joined SW on 1.5.14 - Weight 11 stone 11 :eek:
:A- 8/13 :A - 4/14

Comments

  • Sarahspangles
    Sarahspangles Posts: 3,239 Forumite
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    Who is ‘they’ - the Council?
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  • ttc39
    ttc39 Posts: 691 Forumite
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    hello sarahspangles, yes the council. 
    Joined SW on 1.5.14 - Weight 11 stone 11 :eek:
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  • Sarahspangles
    Sarahspangles Posts: 3,239 Forumite
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    As she has dementia, you would have been able to apply to Court yourselves to get consent to help her manage her affairs.  Presumably the Council now needs to do so because she’s stopped paying her care bills herself, and somebody needs to act.

    Wills are irrelevant - this is about her care during her lifetime. 
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  • ttc39
    ttc39 Posts: 691 Forumite
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    no she is still paying for her care herself directly out of her bank. there is no monies owed for this 
    Joined SW on 1.5.14 - Weight 11 stone 11 :eek:
    :A- 8/13 :A - 4/14
  • ttc39
    ttc39 Posts: 691 Forumite
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    also the family would have ensured the monies if they were notified of any issues.. my husband regularly undertakes maintenance on her property. free of charge as she is her aunt and also takes her to the chiropodist also at our expense . 
    Joined SW on 1.5.14 - Weight 11 stone 11 :eek:
    :A- 8/13 :A - 4/14
  • ttc39
    ttc39 Posts: 691 Forumite
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    just seen its a chap from a solicitors firm that is now the director of her affairs. 

    have spoken to age concern who say this all sounds very strange. 
    Joined SW on 1.5.14 - Weight 11 stone 11 :eek:
    :A- 8/13 :A - 4/14
  • Keep_pedalling
    Keep_pedalling Posts: 20,851 Forumite
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    ttc39 said:
    also the family would have ensured the monies if they were notified of any issues.. my husband regularly undertakes maintenance on her property. free of charge as she is her aunt and also takes her to the chiropodist also at our expense . 
    When someone has lost the mental capacity to manage their own affairs and no one has power of attorney in place then someone would need to be appointed as deputy by the courts to manage their affairs. You still have not answered the question about who “they” are but I suspect this is the LA and has been triggered by the safeguarding team. As for the £100k this could be simply moving it from an unsuitable location (current account) to somewhere safer.
  • Albermarle
    Albermarle Posts: 27,875 Forumite
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    You still have not answered the question about who “they” are

    OP has already replied ( 3rd post in the thread) It is the LA.

    OP - Did you not ever consider that someone would have to take over her affairs at some point?
     Was there not any communication from social workers at all to the family, before this suddenly happened ?

    Maybe overall another reminder to everybody, that if a  Power of Attorney with a trusted family member had been in place, most of  these types of situations can be largely avoided.
  • Keep_pedalling
    Keep_pedalling Posts: 20,851 Forumite
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    You still have not answered the question about who “they” are

    OP has already replied ( 3rd post in the thread) It is the LA.

    OP - Did you not ever consider that someone would have to take over her affairs at some point?
     Was there not any communication from social workers at all to the family, before this suddenly happened ?

    Maybe overall another reminder to everybody, that if a  Power of Attorney with a trusted family member had been in place, most of  these types of situations can be largely avoided.
    Whoops! Another senior moment.

    Agree re the reminder, LPAs, especially finance, are not something that should be left until you are in your dotage. 
  • elsien
    elsien Posts: 36,041 Forumite
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    edited 7 March 2023 at 11:48PM
    Without a deputyship if she’s lost capacity around finances and doesn’t have an LPA no one has the authority to access her bank accounts, to change any direct debits,  to speak to any utility providers on her behalf, to monitor her savings for the financial assessment for her care. Just being family doesn’t allow you to do that without the proper legal mechanisms in place.
    They will be taking the money from her bank account in order to ensure it is used properly in her best interests, not to steal  it to use it for nefarious purposes, because she can no longer do that for herself. 

    That is a perfectly legal and appropriate way for a deputy to act. It is nothing to do with her will or her estate or what happens after she dies. It’s to make sure that her money is being used safely and appropriately now. Redirecting her post is also usual because how else will they know what bills may be coming through the post in order to pay them?

    Family appear not to have noticed that she may have been getting into financial difficulties despite the “fairly regular” visits, and in those circumstances it’s not unusual for a professional deputy to be appointed. If there is someone in the family who feels they can carry out the role more effectively that would be the grounds for the appeal. 
    Although it may be that the lady herself has indicated that she doesn’t want family involved for some reason. Maybe because you were her husband’s family and not hers? 
    Ideally any appeal would leave  out the will and who might get what because that has nothing to do with it at all and doesn’t paint the best picture of your motives although I’m sure that’s not the intention. You need to show how having a family member as the deputy would be better for her than having a paid professional. Has she ever expressed any wishes about what help she would want when she was no longer able to manage?
      When she does pass her estate would be administered in the normal way in accordance with her will or the rules of intestacy. The deputyship doesn’t affect that.

    All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

    Pedant alert - it's could have, not could of.
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