Filling out COP 14 issue

Wheelybin46

New member
Jul 31, 2021
4
0
MY wife (75) was diagnosed with dementia in 2019 and it was initially a relatively slow decline but in January this year she 'went over a cliff edge' and consequently was taken into a dementia home. the result is that now she is not able to understand anything and not always recognising me. Myself and step-son have applied to the Court of Protection.
the initial paperwork was sent in and now we have received the issue notice. The problem is I cannot get my head around the COP 14 form which appears to be a form to be sent to my wife but she has advanced dementia so sending the form is pointless or have I got it all wrong?





Can someone please help
 

nae sporran

Registered User
Oct 29, 2014
9,213
0
Bristol
Hullo and welcome to the forum, @Wheelybin46. Sorry your wife has taken such a horrible turn for the worse and you and your step son have so much more to deal with. COP 14 form is not something I am familiar with, but AgeUK were very helpful in advising my partner and I when we had the POA forms to fill out. I would recommend calling them to see what they can do for you.
Others with more experience will be around to help you more.
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
25,018
0
South coast
Hi @Wheelybin46 , welcome to Talking Point

Exactly the same thing happened to my mum. She moved into a care home before she would give POA and by this time she had lost capacity, so I had to apply to the Court of Protection.

You are not wrong. Strange as it seems, you do indeed have to show this form to your wife. The guidance says that you should tell her about the form in words they can understand so that gives you a lot of wriggle room. I took the form when I visited mum and got one of the carers to witness me showing mum the form. I said something like - hi mum, this is a form to let you know that I want to be able to pay all your bills legally, so you dont have to worry about it. Mum just said - oh, OK then - and that was that. The care home put the form in with mums paperwork and I sent the confirmation form back to the Court of Protection.
 

thistlejak

Registered User
Jun 6, 2020
486
0
FIL was already in a care home when we got Deputyship. We sat with him and said that 'this piece of paper is to tell you that (son) has asked the court to help you sort out your money' .He had next to no understanding but said OK. We then had the form put into his notes. It was never mentioned again.
 

Wheelybin46

New member
Jul 31, 2021
4
0
Hi @Wheelybin46 , welcome to Talking Point

Exactly the same thing happened to my mum. She moved into a care home before she would give POA and by this time she had lost capacity, so I had to apply to the Court of Protection.

You are not wrong. Strange as it seems, you do indeed have to show this form to your wife. The guidance says that you should tell her about the form in words they can understand so that gives you a lot of wriggle room. I took the form when I visited mum and got one of the carers to witness me showing mum the form. I said something like - hi mum, this is a form to let you know that I want to be able to pay all your bills legally, so you dont have to worry about it. Mum just said - oh, OK then - and that was that. The care home put the form in with mums paperwork and I sent the confirmation form back to the Court of Protection.
Thank you, Canary...I followed your advice and sent the forms back a few weeks later and, as they say, no news is good news, so hopefully, we've moved on in the process.
 

Wheelybin46

New member
Jul 31, 2021
4
0
Thank you all for answering my previous question...now I have another one
We, that is me and her son, are now Deputies for his mother but we have now hit a brick wall!
when we filled out the COP1 form, nobody advised us to tick the 'Joint and Severally' box and we ticked the 'Joint' box
consequently, we cannot access her bank account unless we are physically standing in her bank (we live 90 miles apart so it's not really possible to do!) Also, we cannot access her account online.
The COP lady that oversees our deputyship thinks...thinks? we will have to reapply by going through the whole process again.
Does anyone here have any experience with this issue?
 

Shedrech

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
12,649
0
UK
hi @Wheelybin46
I wonder whether you could together open a new account in a bank/building society where you can both get to together ... then arrange a meeting at the current bank to register the Deputyship, transfer the funds and close the account ... though realistically this may actually take more than one meeting

arrange for all income to be paid into the new account and for outgoings have as much as possible on direct debits so there are few times you have to physically be together to act
 

MartinWL

Registered User
Jun 12, 2020
2,025
0
67
London
Some banks now offer video consultations, I wonder if it would be worth asking g if they would accept this I place of physical presence?
 

Wheelybin46

New member
Jul 31, 2021
4
0
I have since spoken to the Court of Protection and I was told we have to complete a new application that will set aside the original order (so that's another £371:mad:)
many thanks for all your feedbacks
 

annb1897

Registered User
Aug 26, 2020
13
0
I have spent 90 minutes in the bank this morning trying to access mum's accounts. We have a solicitor doing the leg work for a Court of Protection. POA is beyond mum now. We have been told it will take a year to process, and until the bank has access to the signed documents no one can access her accounts. She is self funding so all her care costs are coming out of her accounts but not until the paperwork is finalised. I did have a 3rd party agreement card with her account until this morning when it has been removed. Apparently if someone is diagnosed with dementia , the use of the card could be seen as fraud. The card was issued as she was diagnosed! The previous Bank Manager placed a block on the accounts but didn't tell me. In fairness the bank staff today could see what had to be done, could see no money has been taken out for any reason and were apologetic but laws have to be followed.
Stressed is not the word for it. It seems everytime we take 3 steps forward, we then get knocked back 2.
 

MartinWL

Registered User
Jun 12, 2020
2,025
0
67
London
If it really will take a year to get new deputyship, how about trying to make the current deputyship work? Although you are remote from each other cheques can be posted for a second signature but could you start ringing round the numerous banks that offer online banking and see if you can find one that will give you online access? The way this works at a charity account is that one person sets up the payment and the other approves it, all online. I do not know if any bank would offer this but it would be worth making a lot of phone calls.
 

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