My husband and I own an inherited property jointly . We instructed its sale with a solicitor a couple of months ago before my OH was diagnosed as having dementia .He has apparently been hiding it well for some time. ( I dont have POA .and havent yet applied for a deputyship as need to know more about it .) The specialist says he has fluctuating capacity . We are now just a couple of weeks away to final signing for completion. Husband is clear about wanting to sell the house , whether it be at times he is also talking with confusion , or at times he appears to have relative normality . If the solicitor knows capacity is fluctuating depending on the topic in hand, is he likely/allowed to accept my OH's signature to complete the sale , if OH is in a more lucid state and making his wishes to sell clear ?
Fluctuating capacity
- Thread starter Jasonette
- Start date
HI @Jasonette
Capacity isnt an all or nothing thing, You can have capacity for one decision, but not for another. Or you can have capacity at one time, but not on another. So long as the person with dementia understands and can agree in that moment it is legal.
I think that you can only book an appointment with the solicitor at a time when he is usually most alert, not keep reminding him about it (keep reminding usually increases anxiety and confusion), make sure he doesnt get too tired the day before and keep your fingers crossed on the day...
BTW - do you think that on a good day he would agree to POA?
If so, you dont have to go through the solicitor - you can download the forms from the gov site, get someone who has known him for 2 years or more (a friend or neighbour) to witness the signatures, then on a good day take the opportunity to get it organised yourself.
Mum wouldnt agree to POA, even on a good day, so I had to apply for deputyship. It is doable, but quite a faff and its much better if you can get POA.
Capacity isnt an all or nothing thing, You can have capacity for one decision, but not for another. Or you can have capacity at one time, but not on another. So long as the person with dementia understands and can agree in that moment it is legal.
I think that you can only book an appointment with the solicitor at a time when he is usually most alert, not keep reminding him about it (keep reminding usually increases anxiety and confusion), make sure he doesnt get too tired the day before and keep your fingers crossed on the day...
BTW - do you think that on a good day he would agree to POA?
If so, you dont have to go through the solicitor - you can download the forms from the gov site, get someone who has known him for 2 years or more (a friend or neighbour) to witness the signatures, then on a good day take the opportunity to get it organised yourself.
Mum wouldnt agree to POA, even on a good day, so I had to apply for deputyship. It is doable, but quite a faff and its much better if you can get POA.
Hi @Jasonette and welcome to Dementia Talking Point. I don't know a lot about fluctuating capacity though I think @canary's advice is excellent and your husband probably will be fine signing the forms. Others who know more will probably be along shortly.
Below are the links to the Government sites about sorting out Lasting Power of Attorney and deputyship. LPA is quite straight forward to do and you don't need a solicitor. If your husband can understand in the moment that having LP will help you help with with finances and decisions about health you should still be OK to go ahead and do that. My mum wasn't diagnosed when we sorted out LPA but it was obvious that she had some sort of dementia at the time. Deputyship is more complicated, but doable, but as part of that you have to show your husband no longer has the capacity to make decisions and he doesn't sound quite at that stage yet.
www.gov.uk
www.gov.uk
Below are the links to the Government sites about sorting out Lasting Power of Attorney and deputyship. LPA is quite straight forward to do and you don't need a solicitor. If your husband can understand in the moment that having LP will help you help with with finances and decisions about health you should still be OK to go ahead and do that. My mum wasn't diagnosed when we sorted out LPA but it was obvious that she had some sort of dementia at the time. Deputyship is more complicated, but doable, but as part of that you have to show your husband no longer has the capacity to make decisions and he doesn't sound quite at that stage yet.
Lasting and enduring powers of attorney forms
Create, register, object to or disclaim a lasting power of attorney or enduring power of attorney.
Deputies: make decisions for someone who lacks capacity
How to become and act as a Court of Protection deputy - eligibility, responsibilities, how to apply, fees, supervision and when your deputyship ends.
Canary, Sarasa . Thank you both so much, so glad I came on here , its given me hope . Something happened between me writing my post and coming back on to see if any replies . I had a call from the hospital to advise me that my husband had signed to say he wanted resuss and anything else to help keep him alive . This is the exact opposite of what his unofficial living will said, signed 15 years ago . Im presuming the hospital have mislaid it (it went in there with him when he had a stroke 15yrs ago ) because they are dismissing my questions with a 'dont know about it' and saying my husband was judged by the specialist this morning , to have capacity when asked, to make that decision ,and thats whats important.
So I have to say Im gobsmacked to say the least since only fairly recently OH said after seeing our friend who is in advanced dementia state , that he'd rather be dead than be like that !
Im presuming though , that if he is judged to have capacity for something so important, then there should be no problem with signing off the house sale if he gets his wishes across to the solicitor-which I think he can if she keeps to the point , and then I can consider possibly tackling him about signing a poa. Wow, I thought it would be far to late - and I think it might well be if done via a solicitor. Up till now he has blamed me for putting him into hospital and thinks its all a conspiracy and Im evil, ( he doesnt even really recognise me as his wife except hes been told I am ) but having negotiated his release from the much hated hospital for tomorrow, he might just agree if he realizes that was down to my efforts. Thank you both , Im sure if I can get past the house sale, Ill feel better, and if I can get poa at this stage Ill be over the moon . Of course I know after that Ill have my hands full with looking after him at home so Ill be back on here .
If only one person signs to say they witnessed the signing of a poa, are there no checks on that decision to know just how much capacity my OH had at the time? Sounds quite open to being abused ?
Just another thought , when asked about resuss, would the specialist legally have to tell my husband what was wrong with him to help him make the decision ? Youd get a different answer perhaps if you thought youd had a stroke , than to if you thought you had dementia with no getting better?
So I have to say Im gobsmacked to say the least since only fairly recently OH said after seeing our friend who is in advanced dementia state , that he'd rather be dead than be like that !
Im presuming though , that if he is judged to have capacity for something so important, then there should be no problem with signing off the house sale if he gets his wishes across to the solicitor-which I think he can if she keeps to the point , and then I can consider possibly tackling him about signing a poa. Wow, I thought it would be far to late - and I think it might well be if done via a solicitor. Up till now he has blamed me for putting him into hospital and thinks its all a conspiracy and Im evil, ( he doesnt even really recognise me as his wife except hes been told I am ) but having negotiated his release from the much hated hospital for tomorrow, he might just agree if he realizes that was down to my efforts. Thank you both , Im sure if I can get past the house sale, Ill feel better, and if I can get poa at this stage Ill be over the moon . Of course I know after that Ill have my hands full with looking after him at home so Ill be back on here .
If only one person signs to say they witnessed the signing of a poa, are there no checks on that decision to know just how much capacity my OH had at the time? Sounds quite open to being abused ?
Just another thought , when asked about resuss, would the specialist legally have to tell my husband what was wrong with him to help him make the decision ? Youd get a different answer perhaps if you thought youd had a stroke , than to if you thought you had dementia with no getting better?
