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.Do I need to get LPA's in place when we have been married for over 36 years, have a joint bank account which pays all the direct debits etc., most of which are in my name?
Thoughts and opinions always welcome
Thanks for your replies Beate, I too was surprised that the solicitor would not be a Certificate Provider, but I do understand her position.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?
Thanks Bunpoots, I can understand why your friend was nervous, I would be too!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!!
Thanks Bunpoots, I can understand why your friend was nervous, I would be too!
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?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.
I was asking about YOUR friends who might be professionals in the health care system.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!
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 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.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 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.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.