Removal of my LPA by the Public Guardian OfficeI have fought my sisters over the last

[MotherBoddy]

Hi all,

I’m new to this but I am now at my wits end with a LPA I held until Friday for my mother who has suffered from Alzheimer’s for years and was taken out by her and my late father in 2012. It’s a very long story but essentially I have fought my older sisters over this for some years now as they wanted control of everything but both my parents did not want that. They tried to get her into a totally inappropriate home and have held many meetings to discuss my mother without me, even recently with her current home manager making out I didn’t exist !? My mother went into a home in June 2017 and it was my parents wish that the family home be sold and the funds split between the four of us and I would reinvest my mothers funds for her, essentially they didn’t trust my sisters for historical reasons I only found out about when my late father was dying. I ran the LPA without any issues from 2012 until 2017 and all of a sudden when the house sale was discussed my younger sister contacted the Guardian office and made up allegations about me and as a consequence they investigated me and an order was obtained on Friday and a court ‘deputy’ took control. I have fully cooperated with them throughout and dispite asking for supporting evidence for my sisters allegations there isn’t any, I’ve asked her to provide supporting evidence too but she refuses. It seems that by making false allegations without any substance or any hearing has resulted in my parents wishes being totally ignored dispite me telling everyone concerned of the accurate facts. After 12 months, whilst holding the LPA, I sold the family home as requested and it is currently going through the process but I’m not sure now if the sale will complete ? This is purely down to control issues my sisters have and something my late father predicted hence I was asked to hold the LPA by them. What can I now do ? I have fought my sisters, sadly, over the last year to ensure my parents wishes and my mothers welfare is put first but it seems a court will believe made up, none supported allegations, without a hearing and ignore their wishes. Should I now take legal action against them, on behalf of my mother, or appeal against the decision which, unless I see the evidence they have provided I cannot do. The investigation was totally biased and full of opinion that I challenged but it appears my points were ignored by the investigator and the court. Any advice would be greatly welcomed as I have 21 days to appeal. Many Thanks

 

[karaokePete]

Hello @MotherBoddy, you are welcome here.

That is a difficult problem and I don't personally have relevant knowledge. I think it may be a good idea to talk to the experts on the help line and the details of that are

National Dementia Helpline
0300 222 11 22
Our helpline advisers are here for you.
Helpline opening hours:
Monday to Wednesday 9am – 8pm
Thursday and Friday 9am – 5pm
Saturday and Sunday 10am – 4pm

 

[Kevinl]

Hi MotherBoddy, welcome to TP
It's really sad when families fall out at such a difficult time and I really don't understand how the court could believe her allegations with absolutely no proof.
You appeal the decision, but that could cost you some serious money specially if the court made another strange decision and you lost.
If the court has appointed a deputy then I guess they'll go ahead with the house sale as the house would become their responsibility so getting rid of it is probably the easiest option for them.
What they'll do with the money raised is another question, but I would think they'd have to keep it to pay for your mother's care and their fees I doubt very much you'll see it until after she passes away and then it will be distributed as per her will.
I don't know what you sister hoped to achieve her actions other than to create one big mess for you all and it may well mean she has to wait years before she gets her share.
K

 

[jenniferpa]

You can of course appeal, but in your place I'd probably be happy to turn the whole mess over to a professional.

Something in your OP struck me though "and it was my parents wish that the family home be sold and the funds split between the four of us ". You see, I don't see how that would fly to be honest. The proceeds of the home sale are solely your mother's and should be kept for your mother's benefit. I think by making this proposal you quite possibly did yourself a disservice in the eyes of the court.

But I agree with @karaokePete - this is way beyond the scope of this forum. Did you have professional legal assistance during the court proceedings? Because if you intend or are even considering appealing, you will definitely need it.

 

[Tin]

Comment did stand out to me also. It is your mother's money and cannot be shared out yet, who knows how much your mother will need for her care. Is it possible than you and your siblings did not know this?

 

[love.dad.but..]

Comment did stand out to me also. It is your mother's money and cannot be shared out yet, who knows how much your mother will need for her care. Is it possible than you and your siblings did not know this?

Unfortunately it stood out for me also and if this has been relayed to OPG from sisters ...that may offer some explanation for the OPG action.

 

[Beate]

I have no idea what your sisters have told the OPG to get the LPA taken from you and I agree that you need more advice than we can probably offer, but I also concur with the above posters that what you would have done with the money from the house sale would have been considered deliberate "deprivation of assets" which could have come back to bite you later. Your mother's money must be used for her care, and in the view of a dementia diagnosis and already existing care costs cannot be distributed among family before her death, whether that's her wish or not. If you gave away her money like that and then at some point she couldn't afford her care home anymore, the state would not help and instead ask you to pay back the money. Please inform yourself properly about this before you take any further steps.

 

[canary]

When there are family disputes the court of protection will often appoint a third, independent person (usually a solicitor) as a deputy. This person will have powers very similar to POA and although you wont have POA it does mean that your sisters cant interfere either. The deputy will probably take over the sale of the house.

Im afraid that your comments about dividing up the money from the sale of your mums house hit me too and I also wondered whether this had anything to do with the courts decision.

 

[MotherBoddy]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your replies, just for clarification, in my fathers will the house was left to my mother and the three of us and I was asked to sell the home when she eventually had to go into a home, I have no interest in the money and never have, I have supported by mother financially since my dad died and you can imagine this is a point of difference with my sisters, I even gave the court evidence of my own funding for my mother which was ignored, I still have not seen any evidence provided by anyone to support my sisters allegations but it appears this isn’t required for the courts to take the LOA of me ?! I’m not too sure what a court duty does but as one of you said I’ll be happy to see an end to this sorry saga, something I never wanted but said to my parents I would do to ensure my mothers welfare which unfortunately my sisters don’t seem to want to put first, which is extremely sad. The whole legal side to all this confuses me based on evidence which no jury would ever believe as nothing is factually supported, many Thanks though guys

 

[Tin]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your replies, just for clarification, in my fathers will the house was left to my mother and the three of us and I was asked to sell the home when she eventually had to go into a home, I have no interest in the money and never have, I have supported by mother financially since my dad died and you can imagine this is a point of difference with my sisters, I even gave the court evidence of my own funding for my mother which was ignored, I still have not seen any evidence provided by anyone to support my sisters allegations but it appears this isn’t required for the courts to take the LOA of me ?! I’m not too sure what a court duty does but as one of you said I’ll be happy to see an end to this sorry saga, something I never wanted but said to my parents I would do to ensure my mothers welfare which unfortunately my sisters don’t seem to want to put first, which is extremely sad. The whole legal side to all this confuses me based on evidence which no jury would ever believe as nothing is factually supported, many Thanks though guys

I suppose the best way to look at this is that your sisters have lost out too, whatever reasons they had and whatever they thought would happen has back fired, a third party now has control. Hope you can find a way to sort all this out.

 

[Kevinl]

It all get's very confused, on what basis did your dad own the home? If it was solely in his name then he can leave it to who he wants, it used to be common just to have the house in the man's name but that was years ago it very rarely happens these days specially if they'd ever had a mortgage on the property.
If they owned the house as joint tenants which is normal then on his death his share would automatically pass to your mum, if they were tenants in common then the house would be owned 50/50 unless the land registry deeds say otherwise and he could will his share to who he liked, this is usually done by leaving the spouse a beneficial life interest so as long as they live there the beneficiaries of his will can't force her out.
As has been said earlier it's unlikely the new CoP deputy will want to do anything other than sell the house and sit on the money to pay for your mums care whatever wishes your dad expressed in his will unless the ownership of the property was legally correct for him to do this and the court agreed that in doing this he'd still made "reasonable provision" for his wife which giving away three quarters of their home...is leaving her with only 25% reasonable provision?
If you want to take the court on then you'll need some serious legal advise not the least to examine on what basis the CoP took away your POA, they must have given reasons.
K