POA for father in law

Screamager29

Hello,

My father in law is 90 has recently admitted to hospital, mild dementia has been mentioned. He has no funeral plan but does have savings that could go towards a funeral if the worst happens.

He lives in a housing association flat so has no property. Is it too late for POA?

Keep_pedalling

if he still has the mental capacity to make his own decisions then no it is not too late and you should encourage his to do so without delay, especially for finance.

elsien

Capacity is time and decision specific so having a mild dementia diagnosis does not rule out making a power of attorney. However, if you think it might be challenged, for example by other family members, it’s a good idea to get a solicitor involved rather than DIY

You also need to think about why he’s in hospital and whether his capacity might improve as his health does and revisit it then when he is back home, depending on what his current illness is.

Off the top of my head, he needs to understand that it’s his decision as to whether to make one or not, and his decision as to who to appoint. Regardless of what other people think - weighing up the pros and cons of having one or not having one. The scope of the decisions that people would be making for him. Whether he wants it to come into force while he still has capacity or only when he loses his capacity, for the financial one. And the implications of having other people making decisions for him and who he trusts to make the decisions in his best interests when the time comes.

if I can find a proper link for the salient factor, I”ll put it up.

elsien

you seem to be thinking mainly about a financial power-of-attorney – he should consider a health and welfare one as well because who does he want making decisions about his medical treatment and where he lives when he can no longer do so? Family or professionals.?

CliveOfIndia

It's definitely worth getting POA in place sooner rather than later - both financial and welfare. It saves a whole heap of headaches if it should be needed, rather than not being in place. As long as a doctor certifies that he is still able to make the decision to agree to it, then it shouldn't be a problem.

Worth noting, and something I only found out recently having gone through the same process … Putting the POA in place doesn't automatically mean you can take over all his affairs against his wishes - if that's a concern for you, him, or other family members. Get it set up in advance, but it can only be "activated" either by him choosing to, or by a doctor certifying that he is no longer able to make rational decisions by himself. So you can't go and empty his bank account against his wishes as soon as it's in place :-)

Caveat - we're in Scotland, I don't know if the law is different in other parts of the UK. But your solicitor will obviously be able to advise you.

daveyjp

Never too late. I was asked to sign a section of the form for someone who died a week after it was put in place.

EssexExile

We got POA for my father-in-law after he had a stroke. A solicitor visited him and questioned him a couple of times to convince herself that he was able to make the decision himself.

lr1277

Just to be clear, for both types of POA i.e. health and welfare and financial matters, the donor needs to have capacity when they sign the docouments.

However with a financial POA, the attorney can take action as long as they are agreed to by the donor. The donor may still have capacity but may not want to do the extra steps required for the particular task.

However with a health and welfare POA, medical staff will only take your input once the donor has lost mental capacity. If the donor has capacity, the medical staff will take direction from the donor and not take into account the wishes of the attorney. When I say medical staff I mean the whole range of medical staff from doctors, nurses, ambulance staff et al.

badmemory

Not strictly true about the health one. When my mother went into hospital (broken hip) they were sending her to rehab & refused to tell anyone including her where they were going to send her. I had to wave the POA in their faces to be told. It was not a fun time & we certainly didn't need that.

elsien

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81912219#Comment_81912219

It is absolutely true that they cannot be used until the person loses capacity. So if she had capacity them accepting your power of attorney was unlawful.
And she could of course have declined to go anywhere until they did tell her what they were suggesting.

But that’s hospitals for you - their knowledge of the mental capacity act is appalling at times. I had a situation where a ward manager and Consultant accepted an unregistered financial power-of-attorney with regards to health decisions. Because they hadn’t bothered to look at the paperwork.

freesha

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81911890#Comment_81911890

It can well be too late once they lose capacity.