Mum has had all her ID taken

otb666

You should just ask your brother if you have concerns he could be doing this all for your mothers benefit if she has dementia. If you have concerns after this you can ask adult services to look into if you think she is being financial abused. Sounds to me you are a bit miffed to be left out but that generation always default to eldest son for responsibility of their affairs. Hope you get it sorted with your brother although I know from experience thay can be a bit cagey and really he could say non of your business. You could then say you will contact social services with your concerns.

Keep_pedalling

When my mother went into care with dementia, as her attorney this is exactly what I did. Her bank card was cancelled and I managed her finances solely. It does not sound like she has the capacity to sell her house (or is at least at risk of loosing capacity before completion of any sale, so unless there really is anything untoward happening her attorney is best placed to make the sale.

You really need to have a non accusation chat with the attorney to see what they are planning to do about the house and offer to help if needed.

sheenas

The LPA is her son and I guess its difficult situation if you don't see eye to eye with them. The LPA has power to manager her affairs and appears to being doing so. The dementia situation while very sad, from what you have said seems necessary. You may not agree with the LPA, but they have the responsibility to manage your mum funds. If the house is to be sold it really the LPA that must be involved. I see no issue with the LPA have the document to execute their duties.

My wife's sister is the LPA for her mum. She has the documents bills that she need to do the day to day admin. Mum in law is still quite on the ball, but the finances are more easily managed without cheques and cash involved. Personally I support her decisions, while I may not always agree with them.

I don't know your family dynamic, but if you are unhappy with the LPA arrangement and more importantly your mum is also, then they LPA could be retracted before worry about who has what ID.

The LPA would need to be involved in selling the house as there are implications with your mum being in a care home.

Keep_pedalling

Retracting an LPA when the donor already has dementia is going to be problematic as it will be down to a court to decide is she has the mental capacity to do so. It is also likely that it would need to be replaced with deputy ship which is expensive, long winded and when feuding children are involved deputyship may be taken out of the families hands entirely.

structuralengineer

It's impossible to speak with the attorney. Phone, texts, emails, letters, over nearly a year, all ignored. Not a single response. Mum can't reach him either. Care home can't reach him. The Police were involved but dropped the case — it's the same force as in the infamous Pamela Gwinnett case, where they dropped the case and it turned out she was a fraudster.

Yorkie1

If the force dropped the case, did they give you a reason for not doing so?

You have the right to request a review of that decision, if it was taken in the last 3 months:

Police VRR Scheme

stripling

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82139539#Comment_82139539

The bottom line is whether she has mental capacity and the general level of 'capacity' does not exclude people who may be confused or unable to understand - to be considered lacking in capacity the person has to be 'very confused/unable to remember/etc' thus this relative should be communicating with her for anything major - eg anything more than just the care home bills.

Are the care home bills being paid? Why does she want to sell her flat? What is happening with the flat if she is in a care home? Is selling her flat the best move for her at this time? Does the Council have a charge on it for care home fees? Will the Council expect money from her in the future? These are questions that need to be answered.

Someone with dementia is still a person and although mental function may come and go, it's not a straight line and they deserve the same respect as anyone else.

You need to ask the LPA person (non accusingly as someone else said) in writing, what is the state of play because she wants to sell up. Give them a brief amount of time to respond and if no response you have to go to the court of protection. There's nothing else you can do.

bobster2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82140281#Comment_82140281

It's a bit of a leap to draw an analogy with that case based on what you've written so far.

If someone is acting under a LPA for a donor who has lost capacity - it is entirely normal for them to open bank accounts, have bank cards in their name (as LPA), and for the donor to no longer have a bank card in their name. It would also be normal for the person with LPA to take responsibility for dealing with all bills - and potentially look after ID documents. And also take steps to ensure that the donor is not able to dispose of property (e.g. sell a flat). It would be down to the person with LPA to sell the property if it was in the donor's interests.

So the key issues are…

Does she have capacity? You have said your mother is in the "early stages" of dementia. However, if she has been in a care home for a while now it would seem likely that things are beyond the early stages. Unless there's another reason she's there?

Has the person with LPA actually done anything for their own financial benefit rather than in the interests of your mother? As I've noted above - none of the things you've mentioned so far sound particularly unusual.

KxMx

If no one has been able to reach the attorney in nearly a year, has their welfare been checked up on?

structuralengineer

Thank you all — very useful comments! Does anyone know how she can get some ID?