Are LPA's necessary?
- Thread starter SandraKD
- Start date
I have LPA finance though not for welfare. Too late to get the latter now, anyway. It's one of those formalities it's simply best to do and get in place. Things change, protocols change. My opinion would be get it done. Warmest, Kindred.
Yes, yes and yes again. If your bank ever got wind of the fact that your spouse had lost mental capacity, they could freeze your joint accounts to protect their money - and then what? Also, if your spouse was the one with the lesser income or savings, it would make sense to separate your accounts - otherwise exactly half of all joint savings are calculated in any financial assessment on care costs.
Plus, the health & welfare LPA is becoming increasingly asked for by medical professionals or care staff, and that one has nothing to do with finances, while being equally important.
The forms are streamlined, logical and easy to fill in DIY, and registration costs only £82, or even less if the donor is short of money. That is a very cheap price to pay for peace of mind!
Plus, the health & welfare LPA is becoming increasingly asked for by medical professionals or care staff, and that one has nothing to do with finances, while being equally important.
The forms are streamlined, logical and easy to fill in DIY, and registration costs only £82, or even less if the donor is short of money. That is a very cheap price to pay for peace of mind!
It is so simple when you are asked if you have it and the answer is yes. No further questions. For some that will be enough others will want a copy. They may take one from The original or ask for a certified copy or in the case of our dentist a copy scanned to her computer was fine. There are such a lot of problems as a carer that it makes sense to deal with this one issue before it becomes a problem.
If it is at all Possible your husband will
Need care in the future then now is the time to start separating out your finances before it all gets swallowed up.
If it is at all Possible your husband will
Need care in the future then now is the time to start separating out your finances before it all gets swallowed up.
This Society Factsheet explains the benefits of LPA. Just click the second line if you want to read and/or print it
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/legal-financial/lasting-power-attorney
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/sites...loads/factsheet_lasting_power_of_attorney.pdf
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/legal-financial/lasting-power-attorney
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/sites...loads/factsheet_lasting_power_of_attorney.pdf
I never bothered when my wife and diagnosed with Alzheimer's as we intended to go back to our home in France. The result is that social services got involved and said as I do not have LPA they have to agree on everything concerning my wife and will not let her return to France. They said if we had LPA they would not be bothered what we did.
Thank you all for your responses and support. The issue is the Certificate Provider. This needs to be a person that has known OH for more than two years and is not a family member. Due to various reasons we do not have anyone that is not a family member who has seen or been in contact with him for the last 6 years at least. When I asked the Doctor he said that he did not sign these due to the current litigious climate where someone could accuse him of professional incompetence, the solicitor we saw today said the same thing, to quote "it's not worth my career".
So, now I am a bit stuck as to where to go with these.
So, now I am a bit stuck as to where to go with these.
GPs don't like to do this but a solicitor not wanting to make money surprises me!
There is a whole list of health care providers here though who also qualify:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_professional
Do you know any friends of yours who are in any of these professions? They could sign it with their professional hat on. Or does he have a social worker?
There is a whole list of health care providers here though who also qualify:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_professional
Do you know any friends of yours who are in any of these professions? They could sign it with their professional hat on. Or does he have a social worker?
I got a friend of mine to sign dad's. She's known him for decades but hadn't seen him much before she signed. It only has to be that they understand what the LpA is at the time of signing and my dad did.
Friend was slightly nervous .asked if she was signing her life away!!
Friend was slightly nervous .asked if she was signing her life away!!
Thanks for your replies Beate, I too was surprised that the solicitor would not be a Certificate Provider, but I do understand her position.
OH does not yet have/need a social worker, and, as I said, he has not had contact with anyone except family for a number of years. Even our next door neighbours, who are lovely, have only been there 6 months, the previous ones were a horror!
Her dad had dementia too so she understood it . I'm grateful she was willing to step forward . Hope you can find someone
I had both finance and health poa's for my dad and had need of using both during his dementia years. I too have a lovely willing friend who had known dad through me for 30 years..mum and dad were very insular and did not have obvious friends or neighbours who could be asked....do you have adult children who may have such a friend who has also known your OH who could be asked?
I was asking about YOUR friends who might be professionals in the health care system.
Ah! Right, no I don't have friends who are professionals, but I do have some friends who might step up... I'll have to sound them out. A good thought. Thank you.I was asking about YOUR friends who might be professionals in the health care system.
And please don't forget that you should organize Powers of Attorney for yourself as well. After my OH had his cardiac arrest followed a few months later his diagnosis of AD, we prepared our POAs for both finance and medical. The trouble was that he would only agree to my having PoA for him if I would reciprocate and let him have POA for me. Ridiculous of course but I added my son and daughter so that solved my problem.
If you think it is important for you to make a will, it is just as important to have POAs for yourself. I have also just completed my Advanced Care Directive nominating my children as decision makers.
Sometimes we get so tangled up in looking after our PWD, that we forget to prepare for our own future welfare.
If you think it is important for you to make a will, it is just as important to have POAs for yourself. I have also just completed my Advanced Care Directive nominating my children as decision makers.
Sometimes we get so tangled up in looking after our PWD, that we forget to prepare for our own future welfare.
And keep in mind with fluctuating mental capacity your OH needs only to be able to satisfy the certificate provider that they understand at the time of asking...if 5 mins later he can't remember or answer that's fine. That was the case for dad. Put on replacement attorneys as well and if more than one perhaps joint and several so for practical reasons they can act if the other is unavailable.Also think about doing your own at the same time.
I would hate my children to have the worry for months before dad's poa came through so my OH and I have already done ours with replacement attorneys. I agree they are as important as wills. Also ...dementia aside.. sadly any one of us could have a sudden catastrophic accident when a poa would be needed so for lots of reasons it makes sense to have it ready for use. I think of them as insurance...good to have in case but probably and hopefully never needed.
Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time and trouble to reply to this thread. I have now found an old friend of mine, who knows OH who has agreed to be the Certificate Provider for us! I will be getting the paperwork sorted asap and into the OPG
