Court of Protection etc..

ShiftZZ

New member
Jun 20, 2019
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Thanks for approving my membership of this forum..



Background, mother is 6 years old and has been diagnosed with cognitive impairment, she has refused to go for a CT scan and has been under the care of a CMHN and Social Services for over a year. She appears to drop in and out of having capacity. The GP suggests that she does not have capacity to agree a POA, besides when I raised the issue a friend told her that there was no need.



I have been appointed as an appointee to discuss and benefits/pension, I do have a joint account with mother.



Dad had a heart attack 2 years ago and now suffers from anxiety attacks and is under medication, he is 92.

They have carers attending 4 times a day, in pairs as mother keeps losing stuff and some paranoia has started.

I live 200 miles away and travel on a regular basic. I am due to attend an MDT meeting with : Social Services, Metal health nurse, GP, Police and the manager of the Carers.

Mother is continually losing stuff, purses etc. etc



MY question is, As she appears not to have capacity to agree a POA the next step may well be to apply to the Court of Protection, I am hoping that the medical professionals back me and I get appointed. Will my mother still be able to use her debit card and chequebook etc.?



Is the Court of Protection the only alternative?



Thanks
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
24,920
0
South coast
If your mother can still use a debit card and cheque book then I would say that she still has capacity. If you get awarded CoP deputyship then you have to account for every single penny spent (I am not exaggerating) and you have to take over all her finances completely.

It sounds to me as though your mum may have fluctuating capacity. You dont have to go through a solicitor to get POA and you dont have to get a doctor to witness it. You can get the forms downloaded from the government site, then on a good day (when she is lucid) you can produce the forms and get a friend (not the one who thinks you dont need it!) who has known her for 2 years and is willing to sign as a witness to her signature, to all sit down and complete the forms.

If she still wont do it after several attempts, then eventually, yes the only other alternative is CoP.
 

Shedrech

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
12,649
0
UK
hello @ShiftZZ
a warm welcome to DTP
I agree with canary ... your mum does sound to have some capacity and as long as you honestly belive that and she agrees to LPAs when she signs and understands at that moment that it is to give you/her Attorneys permission to help her with finances etc (she does not have to reel off all the intricacies or remember every detail later) then you would be wise to get them done ASAP to make your life easier
www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney
maybe do it over tea and cake
and maybe even prepare documents for yourself and ask her to be your Attorney, so she believes it's a good thing for every adult to do ... you can just set yours aside
I suggest you have 2 Attorneys to act jointly and severally and/or a named replacement for just in case, if that's possible
 

Banjomansmate

Registered User
Jan 13, 2019
5,364
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Dorset
If Mum has capacity but still objects to “signing away her money” I would point out to her how much of her money would be spent on legal fees if things have to be done through CoP and she would lose all control of her money as Canary has stated.
i found the thought of his money being wasted on legal fees always worked wonders with convincing The Banjoman to do the sensible thing!
 

imthedaughter

Registered User
Apr 3, 2019
944
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i found the thought of his money being wasted on legal fees always worked wonders with convincing The Banjoman to do the sensible thing!
This was the approach I also recommended to my MIL and it seems to have worked - even though when I explained it to Gran-in-law she was extremely rude to me ? - must have planted the seed! ? I'm always right in the end, eh!
 

theunknown

Registered User
Apr 17, 2015
433
0
Whilst I agree that it's best if you don't have to go down the deputyship (CoP) route, due to it being a drawn-out process which is also expensive; as far as I'm aware you can only get deputyship if the person it applies to is never able to understand what they are signing up for with a PoA and the CoP has documentation to collaborate this. You can't get deputyship because the person won't agree to donating a PoA.

In my mum's case it turned out that somebody (probably me) should have tried to get PoA, but I never dreamed I'd need to. Once I realised I did, it was too late. Thankfully, before I had to get deputyship nothing bad had happened that could have been stopped with a PoA.

Needless to say, my husband and I have now drawn up PoAs for each other through the government website. No solicitors involved and it doesn't cost a lot.
 

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