Hi there,
I have been on here a few times, and spent a lot longer reading peoples posts!
Mum has dementia;- its not been 'offically' diaganosed, as her GP is not interested, and is worse than useless (don't get me started on that!) She is 88 years old, lives alone, (100+ miles away from me,) has severe arthritis which restricts her mobility, and has just had confrmed that her breast cancer has returned, and although is not causing her any pain, is at quite an advanced state. I'd say the dementia was probably moderate - she needs prompting to take her meds, and will sometimes forget to eat unless reminded. She repeats things frequently, but is aware that she forgets things.
She does not want surgery or agressive treatment for the cancer, so they are just changing her pills, to see if it can be managed for as long as possible.
Social services are involved with a long term care plan, although it seems to be taking them weeks to get the financial assessment done. She lives in a council property, with just the state pension/pension credit and the attendance allowance we got her a while back to help her. She has just a small pot of savings (under £5k)
I've seen a lot about people getting a Lasting Power of Attorny to allow them to offically take on the financial and medical side of decision making for a parent. I've looked into this online, and was shocked by how much it costs! Therefore, I just wondered if it was really necessary, when the person involved has little in the way of assets, like my mum? Would her bank /DWP / utilitiy companies etc take a letter signed by her giving me authority to deal with them? I don't think there will be a problem on the medical side, as the hospital consultant dealing with her cancer is happy to talk to me about her treatment options etc. And social services have also agreed to speak to me about mum, as opposed to confusing her with calls that she won't understand. All her regular bills are paid by DD, and we do have online banking, which allows me to keep an eye on what is happening to her account.
I can fully appreciate someone taking out a LPA when the person involved has savings and a house etc, and has specific medical requirements, but with things being so tight at the moment, in all honesty, I'd rather spend the money involved in getting a LPA on taking mum for a nice day out now and then, whilst she is still able to enjoy it!!!
What are your views....?
I have been on here a few times, and spent a lot longer reading peoples posts!
Mum has dementia;- its not been 'offically' diaganosed, as her GP is not interested, and is worse than useless (don't get me started on that!) She is 88 years old, lives alone, (100+ miles away from me,) has severe arthritis which restricts her mobility, and has just had confrmed that her breast cancer has returned, and although is not causing her any pain, is at quite an advanced state. I'd say the dementia was probably moderate - she needs prompting to take her meds, and will sometimes forget to eat unless reminded. She repeats things frequently, but is aware that she forgets things.
She does not want surgery or agressive treatment for the cancer, so they are just changing her pills, to see if it can be managed for as long as possible.
Social services are involved with a long term care plan, although it seems to be taking them weeks to get the financial assessment done. She lives in a council property, with just the state pension/pension credit and the attendance allowance we got her a while back to help her. She has just a small pot of savings (under £5k)
I've seen a lot about people getting a Lasting Power of Attorny to allow them to offically take on the financial and medical side of decision making for a parent. I've looked into this online, and was shocked by how much it costs! Therefore, I just wondered if it was really necessary, when the person involved has little in the way of assets, like my mum? Would her bank /DWP / utilitiy companies etc take a letter signed by her giving me authority to deal with them? I don't think there will be a problem on the medical side, as the hospital consultant dealing with her cancer is happy to talk to me about her treatment options etc. And social services have also agreed to speak to me about mum, as opposed to confusing her with calls that she won't understand. All her regular bills are paid by DD, and we do have online banking, which allows me to keep an eye on what is happening to her account.
I can fully appreciate someone taking out a LPA when the person involved has savings and a house etc, and has specific medical requirements, but with things being so tight at the moment, in all honesty, I'd rather spend the money involved in getting a LPA on taking mum for a nice day out now and then, whilst she is still able to enjoy it!!!
What are your views....?