I think it would be better to talk to her husband about this and direct him to the website. I dont know how much he knows about what sis is doing or what her responsibilities are but I do know that as far as legal matters are concerned he is dead set against putting a foot wrong. If noone else can get her to face up to things maybe he could.
Financial and legal confusion over mums finances
- Thread starter ursula62
- Start date
Best not to say too much about the antidepressants and dealings with mental health services if she's going to apply for deputyship.
Yes, thats a good point. The thing is that the Social Services already know about all that, and she has had pretty bad problems with drinking also, which they also know about. I dont blame her for this, it became worse steadily over a number of years as she didnt know how else to deal with stresses. I dont want people to think badly about my sister. I have heard that sometimes other people who are carers use drink as a de-stressor when they dont know where else to turn.
I think that might have contributed to the fact that Social Services were quite keen to place a DOL order on her to get her in the care home when she came out of hospital, although they didnt actually state that.
I couldnt really have her living with me, as unfortunately I couldnt devote enough time to her care, and we have a house with two sets of steep stairs, and not adequate facilities for her to have a bedroom downstairs, so it seemed the best option.
If Social Services know, would the Court of Protection also get to know this, and so maybe she wouldnt manage to get deputyship anyway?
I think that might have contributed to the fact that Social Services were quite keen to place a DOL order on her to get her in the care home when she came out of hospital, although they didnt actually state that.
I couldnt really have her living with me, as unfortunately I couldnt devote enough time to her care, and we have a house with two sets of steep stairs, and not adequate facilities for her to have a bedroom downstairs, so it seemed the best option.
If Social Services know, would the Court of Protection also get to know this, and so maybe she wouldnt manage to get deputyship anyway?
The only other thing I can say is that my sister is dealing with her problems alot better than she was, and as far as antidepressants go, about half the people I know are on them, and many function fine and hold down good jobs - its hardly rare.
I dont know whats going to happen - I just dont want anything to change for the worse.
I dont know whats going to happen - I just dont want anything to change for the worse.
The CoP would only get to know this if the SS decided to contest the application. I don't know how often this happens but, for example, although my aunt-in-law has two sons one was not capable of shouldering the responsibility and the older one had a long history of helping himself to her cash. The SS took a dim view of this and said that if he put himself forward they would object. Not that he did. Hasn't been seen since the access to easy cash stopped!
The application process, though, is quite 'self-contained' and the forms don't have to include any input from the SS. Family members (like you) need to be notified that an application has been made, but apart from someone like a senior social worker OR GP certifying the loss of capacity bit, there is no one else that needs to be involved (unless a solicitor is used to write the information provided onto the forms).
Whether your sister would actually manage the Deputyship or not is impossible to say. It's a responsible role and there's an annual report to complete, with supervision visits/calls from time to time too (the frequency depends on various factors such as the value of assets, and even how well they think the Deputy is doing... ), so she wouldn't just be left to it. Most new Deputies get a visit within the first few months which, I assume, is a system for flagging up those who look like they're struggling.
I don't know if any of that helps! I'm a Deputy for two people and although it can be a fair bit of work it's definitely do-able.
Thanks for this its really helpful.
Sister is no stranger to dealing with alot of paperwork as she has been a PA to Directors in various capacities for years, and dealt with all the paperwork, legalities when my dad died, on his instructions. I'm sure she would manage it - its just a matter of pushing her in the right direction - we'll just have to do our best!
Sister is no stranger to dealing with alot of paperwork as she has been a PA to Directors in various capacities for years, and dealt with all the paperwork, legalities when my dad died, on his instructions. I'm sure she would manage it - its just a matter of pushing her in the right direction - we'll just have to do our best!
I agree with care2share, she sounds very capable.
It boils down to being able to justify your decisions, and all kinds of reasons can be taken into account, such as previous wishes of the person or advice from professionals, and accounting for spending. That's what goes into the annual report and what's discussed during supervision contact. The only other thing she'll need is some kind of a system for keeping receipts and paperwork in order just in case the CoP wants to have a look (they've never bothered with that bit with me, but I'm aware that they could ask at any time). And that's it. Tell her to take a deep breath and go for it.
