Feeling failed by the OPG

[Grancan1313]

Well the outcome has been completed by the OPG. I feel disappointed and failed for my father. Feels like this is all a paper exercise.

They found that my step mother can remove
£35,000 on her own name it’s all justified in four months.

They are not interested and won’t investigate joint account with him and wife. All his income is being transferred to her daughter this is £30,000 a year . She can do what she wants it’s joint.

she has not yet resolved outstanding care fees with the council and refusing to provide information for it. They are not interested it’s between her and the council

so what do the OPG do - not a lot and it’s an open ticket to abuse by the looks of it

very disappointed.

 

[Moggymad]

Very sorry how this has gone. I agree from reading other similar posts on here it does seem like a toothless response & an open door to abuse. i don't know what other course of action you could take, if any. It can't be right that money from your dad is being syphoned off in this way ?

 

[Grancan1313]

Very sorry how this has gone. I agree from reading other similar posts on here it does seem like a toothless response & an open door to abuse. i don't know what other course of action you could take, if any. It can't be right that money from your dad is being syphoned off in this way ?

Yes his money is all going/ gone and no one seems interested. The OPG is very poor and let’s the vulnerable down. ?

 

[Pacucho]

Sorry to read about your situation.

I do not know the background to your case but it looks like from what you said that you submitted an official complaint to the OPG. If this is the case and you are still not happy are you aware you can take this up with your GP who can refer the matter to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman ? Here is a link providing more details in care it helps: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-public-guardian/about/complaints-procedure.

 

[Grancan1313]

That's a very dissapointing response from the OPG though from my own experiences, not surprising. I can't go into details in our case other than to say that its so blatently obvious that there is something that is not right to us, mum's friends and her family but not to the OPG! I don't know where they find some of the people that they employ, this woman that was dealing with our case didn't seem to give a damn. Complaining didn't get us anywhere either, that just seemed to be an exercise of checking that all the right boxes had been ticked in the right order. In fact she seemed quite happy for us to complain, knowing that nothing would happen. No accountability.

Hi sorry to hear this it seems that the LPA is an open power to abuse and people can do what they like. I have submitted a complaint and as you say I know this is going to get me nowhere, however I will take it up with the MP after that.

 

[Grancan1313]

Sorry to read about your situation.

I do not know the background to your case but it looks like from what you said that you submitted an official complaint to the OPG. If this is the case and you are still not happy are you aware you can take this up with your GP who can refer the matter to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman ? Here is a link providing more details in care it helps: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-public-guardian/about/complaints-procedure.

Thank you yes I have submitted a complaint yesterday i do not think this will come to any fruition it seems like a tick box exercise. Then as you say I will escalate to my MP
Thank you ?

 

[MarieD]

Hi I’ve just been reading through the forum and found this post.
I’m so frustrated as I’m dealing with a similar situation I have evidence proving money was spent from my mothers account for the benefit of one of her attorneys yet the OPG have said they’ve done nothing wrong and the case is closed.
Rather than investigate properly they seemed to believe a made up story that makes no sense.
I’ve even taken my claim to the police who agreed the evidence points to financial abuse and told me to report to the OPG.
If I can’t get justice for my mother with the amount of evidence I have there seems little hope for anyone else. I’ve completely lost faith with the justice system they’re supposed to be there to protect the vulnerable.
It’s highly unlikely that a person who is low enough to steal from a vulnerable Ill old lady is going to own up to doing it of course their going to make up some wild story to cover their tracks . There seems to be absolutely no common sense used by these investigators.
I have written a complaint also but from the sounds of it I to will probably get nowhere.
Shocking system !

 

[VJ26]

I live in US and reading though these posts (my 95y mum is in a nursing home in UK), these are testaments that Alzheimer patients' have little chances against the system, and they are the most vulnerable in the society of being abused. I feel like the only chances to provide her some dignity for rest of her life and get her out of the grip of the UK system is to bring her to US.

 

[jennifer1967]

I live in US and reading though these posts (my 95y mum is in a nursing home in UK), these are testaments that Alzheimer patients' have little chances against the system, and they are the most vulnerable in the society of being abused. I feel like the only chances to provide her some dignity for rest of her life and get her out of the grip of the UK system is to bring her to US.

can i say that its all forms of dementia and not specific to one. this forum covers all forms and not just alzheimers.

 

[canary]

I live in US and reading though these posts (my 95y mum is in a nursing home in UK), these are testaments that Alzheimer patients' have little chances against the system, and they are the most vulnerable in the society of being abused. I feel like the only chances to provide her some dignity for rest of her life and get her out of the grip of the UK system is to bring her to US.

Be aware that if you do that you will need to obtain conservatorship (the US equivalent of deputyship) and it would be best to consult with a lawyer who specialises in elder care.

 

[VJ26]

Yes, agreed, all forms of dementia or mental or could be physical incapacitated people.

thanks for the advice on the deputyship, there are many aspects of such a step including immigration that will require legal services to expedite the process, medical insurance, equipment, having my sister resign of the financial LPA and let go of mum's pension funds income, and the list of challenges are huge but my family in US feels its worth it as mum is miserable (she said she ran out of luck...), it breaks our hart to see she is in a nursing home against her will. My family here in US feels deceived and misled by the UK gov. system, not getting the help my mum needs from org. like OPG among others when we turned to.

 

[MarieD]

Yes, agreed, all forms of dementia or mental or could be physical incapacitated people.

thanks for the advice on the deputyship, there are many aspects of such a step including immigration that will require legal services to expedite the process, medical insurance, equipment, having my sister resign of the financial LPA and let go of mum's pension funds income, and the list of challenges are huge but my family in US feels its worth it as mum is miserable (she said she ran out of luck...), it breaks our hart to see she is in a nursing home against her will. My family here in US feels deceived and misled by the UK gov. system, not getting the help my mum needs from org. like OPG among others when we turned to.

If your sister has LPA I think it’s highly unlikely she’ll resign ? Your mothers the only person that can revoke the LPA unless the OPG step in if there’s proven to be any wrong doing ( which is highly unlikely given my dealings with them )
A a doctor will however need to agree that your mother has the mental capacity to do so though.

I’ve learnt so much through this process ( the hard way !)
It’s so important to pick the right person to be on your LPA do not be swayed by family members and also write in detail everything you wish your attorney to do and also what they can’t do on your behalf because the OPG seem to be useless.

 

[CAL Y]

Hello @Grancan1313 .
I agree that what your fathers wife has done does sound very dodgy and would never side with her however, I wonder how many people on here dealt with things in a similar way to my late husband and myself..

Long before any sign of dementia, we thought it wise to do our powers of attorney giving POA to each other.
When it became obvious to me that he was starting to have a few mental difficulties and whilst he still had capacity, we researched the illness and the best way to provide for me in the event of his death.
With this in mind, we made arrangements with the bank to move our finances mainly into my name, leaving our joint account with just enough money in his name to qualify for funding if it was necessary.
I was concerned that this might have been seen as deprivation of assets but the bank assured us that what we did was completely above board.

I realise that ,in a way, I am one of the fortunate ones as I was able to see what was happening and at the time my husband was happy to put things in place for me.
If the arrangements hadn’t been put in place at the time it would have been too late as it wasn’t very long afterwards that the dementia escalated.

 

[concerned4]

Have read this thread & what is common is the issue of money being taken out of a PWD/Alzheimers account, having dealt with the OPG firstly in 2013 when I reported a concern to being informed investigation had been completed in 2016, by then damage was done, can understand a lot of the frustration as they do not appear to act on information given to them unless it is a financial institution.
Had/have a very similar case going which is currently sitting with the PF to decide what or if there is a crime, there were significant sums going out of several accounts, we are currently trying to bring the person to court to account for their intromissions, a bit more about the background, the PWD/Alzheimers was made a ward of court & a Guardian was appointed, the Attorney chose to resign after being questioned by the OPG the previous year, the OPG should have reported the matter to Police Scotland but for whatever reason chose not to do so, the Guardian after repeatedly being asked to pursue the former POA to account for intromissions , finally did so 2 years after their appointment, after OPG visited them & asked what they were doing to recover monies, POA said they would not give evidence unless they were assured they were getting Legal Aid, this has been an ongoing issue since 2012 (no typo there), due to backlog with Covid unsure when a decision will be made.
I wrote to my MSP asking that it become mandatory to test a PWD/Alzheimers for their capax, the response was that it would be too costly! For me it should be that a PWD/Alzheimers should be tested yearly as current system allows decisions to be made about PWD/Alzheimers finances can be decided by POA without any accountability & is open to financial abuse.

 

[Jessbow]

I live in US and reading though these posts (my 95y mum is in a nursing home in UK), these are testaments that Alzheimer patients' have little chances against the system, and they are the most vulnerable in the society of being abused. I feel like the only chances to provide her some dignity for rest of her life and get her out of the grip of the UK system is to bring her to US.

Whatis the alternative to a nursing home if you cannot take her to the US?
Is uprooting her and all that will entail really in her best interest?


A lot of things are dependant on having capasity- and when its fluctuating its hardest of all

 

[MartinWL]

On all these cases mentioned the OPG will need proof of wrongdoing, not just the opinion of a family member. Now, I am a critic of the OPG so do not defend them, but I wonder if in any of these cases there really was proof that money had been misused? For example money in a joint account can lawfully be withdrawn by either party and if they choose do do so that's not wrongdoing - it is the basis on which they set up the joint account. The OPG won't take action because someone thinks the attorney has acted unfairly, they will need much more evidence than that.

 

[concerned4]

On all these cases mentioned the OPG will need proof of wrongdoing, not just the opinion of a family member. Now, I am a critic of the OPG so do not defend them, but I wonder if in any of these cases there really was proof that money had been misused? For example money in a joint account can lawfully be withdrawn by either party and if they choose do do so that's not wrongdoing - it is the basis on which they set up the joint account. The OPG won't take action because someone thinks the attorney has acted unfairly, they will need much more evidence than that.

I think by virtue that the OPG indicated that an Attorney resign is an indictment in itself, money was not in a joint account in this instance, not keeping a record of intromissions & using PWD/Alzheimers money as their own, enjoying 8 holidays to USA when they had never held down a full time job is sufficient enough for me, I could list considerably more but as there is a case currently pending where POA has been charged with Breach of Fiduciary will leave you to draw your own conclusion.

 

[MarieD]

On all these cases mentioned the OPG will need proof of wrongdoing, not just the opinion of a family member. Now, I am a critic of the OPG so do not defend them, but I wonder if in any of these cases there really was proof that money had been misused? For example money in a joint account can lawfully be withdrawn by either party and if they choose do do so that's not wrongdoing - it is the basis on which they set up the joint account. The OPG won't take action because someone thinks the attorney has acted unfairly, they will need much more evidence than that.

I can’t speak for others who like you say have joint accounts but I am an attorney on my mothers POA and I have a mountain of evidence against the other attorney. I wish I could go in to detail but there is also an on going police investigation. However even with all of the evidence provided I still can’t get justice via the OPG. My family was very close before all this and I tried everything in my power to resolve it without involving the OPG or the police. I must admit I’ve lost all faith in justice being served but at least I know I’ve tried my best for my mum.

 

[MartinWL]

I think by virtue that the OPG indicated that an Attorney resign is an indictment in itself, money was not in a joint account in this instance, not keeping a record of intromissions & using PWD/Alzheimers money as their own, enjoying 8 holidays to USA when they had never held down a full time job is sufficient enough for me, I could list considerably more but as there is a case currently pending where POA has been charged with Breach of Fiduciary will leave you to draw your own conclusion.

I do not think the OPG asks attorneys to resign, they revoke their appointment. Did you have proof that the holidays were paid for with the donor's funds of did you suspect this without proof? I do not understand the reference to intromissions. It is very rare for an attorney to be charged with an offence under criminal law although it is possible. Perhaps you have misunderstood some of the facts?

 

[concerned4]

I do not think the OPG asks attorneys to resign, they revoke their appointment. Did you have proof that the holidays were paid for with the donor's funds of did you suspect this without proof? I do not understand the reference to intromissions. It is very rare for an attorney to be charged with an offence under criminal law although it is possible. Perhaps you have misunderstood some of the facts?

Will take your points & respond with factual evidence
1 Attorney chose to resign in meeting with OPG.
2 Bank statements where monies are transferred between accounts & Attorney. ( we are talking 100’s of thousands of pounds).
3 Do you understand what intromissions are , this is where the Attorney has interacted with PWD/Alzheimers accounts.
4 “It is very rare for an attorney to be charged with an offence under criminal law although it is possible. Perhaps you have misunderstood some of the facts?” As I have had regular contact with both PF & Police, can state categorically that the attorney has been charged, no misunderstanding, as mentioned it is currently sitting with PF as to how case progresses.
As the attorney in this case has abused a position of trust that is the reason they have been charged.