Lasting power of Attorney

imthedaughter

Registered User
Apr 3, 2019
944
0
Capacity related to specific decisions so there isn't a blanket assessment to be made. Presumably your GP thought he had capacity for something important but as you point out things fluctate so the GPs advice could be out of date. Dementia only gets worse. If you were in a position where resuscitation was being considered it would be obvious that he did not have capacity then so you would be able to make decisions. It would be as well to make sure you can easily produce the POA should the need ever arise.
This is good advice and I always have a digital copy available and paper ones when I visit but given the time/distance if there was such an emergency I wouldn't be there to ask.

I was also making the point that capacity is not a blanket decision so am still not sure what @Ferrit44 is having a problem with.
 

MartinWL

Registered User
Jun 12, 2020
2,025
0
67
London
Just as an aside, I found that the pharmacy that usually dispenses my father's medication was keen to see the h and w POA. It isn't really clear what authority is needed to give instructions to a pharmacy but this seems to have worked. In case anyone wonders what instructions I might need to give, I have told them not to give medicine to my father but only to me or carers because of a previous incident when he lost the pills, and his general muddle over a cocktail of tablets.
 

Sirena

Registered User
Feb 27, 2018
2,324
0
Just as an aside, I found that the pharmacy that usually dispenses my father's medication was keen to see the h and w POA. It isn't really clear what authority is needed to give instructions to a pharmacy but this seems to have worked. In case anyone wonders what instructions I might need to give, I have told them not to give medicine to my father but only to me or carers because of a previous incident when he lost the pills, and his general muddle over a cocktail of tablets.

I do wonder what 'authority' is needed - seemingly, not much. The pharmacist who deals with my mother's medication asked me if I had H&W LPA, and when I said I don't, she said "That's fine, it won't make any difference to what I say to you". We have detailed annual conversations about my mother's medication. My mother's doctors and her carers have all been similarly happy to talk about all aspects of her care with me.
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
25,018
0
South coast
I sort out all of my OHs medication and have done for years. I have never been asked by the pharmacy whether I have H&W POA
 

UncleZen

Registered User
Dec 24, 2019
92
0
Sorry to revive this.
I dug out the 2 LPAs from the safe and re-read them. Both are registered. Yay!
I now have to go through the tedious procedure of writing to each bank etc.
 

Rosettastone57

Registered User
Oct 27, 2016
1,839
0
Hi there,
Me and my sibling have joint LPA for both Finance and Heath, both have been registered with the OPG, we’ve never been asked to have them certified? This is something new to me.
Various banks and financial institutions asked for certified copies of LPA when I asked for access to mother in law 's accounts. I got a local solicitor to certify copies.
 

lollyc

Registered User
Sep 9, 2020
947
0
Hi there,
Me and my sibling have joint LPA for both Finance and Heath, both have been registered with the OPG, we’ve never been asked to have them certified? This is something new to me.
It's basically a validated copy of the original. You can get them certified by a solicitor, for a cost, but you can certify them yourself. We made numerous photocopies and then there is a specifiic form of words that you have to write on each page, and have the donor sign. (I'm afraid I can't remember what exactly, but I'm sure Google will find it.) Not difficult, just a long job. We did it so that we both had valid copies of each (we don't live particularly close) and we never the send the original (it costs to get it replaced). We have only once had a bank query the certified version. My sister told them in no uncertain terms that it was perfectly acceptable, and a more senior staff member confirmed that she was correct.
I keep a copy of the H & W registration page with Mum's DNR / Advance Decision forms and another in the car. We once had an incident when an ambulance was called whilst Mum was out, and she refused to go to hospital. Paramedic was has happy that she had capacity to make that choice, but told me he would've needed proof of LPA to act on her behalf. Perfectly reasonable, but I hadn't considered it.
 

Lynmax

Registered User
Nov 1, 2016
1,045
0
Hi there,
Me and my sibling have joint LPA for both Finance and Heath, both have been registered with the OPG, we’ve never been asked to have them certified? This is something new to me.
A certified copy is simply a photocopy of the original LPA ( the one with the raised stamp at the bottom)!which states that it is a true copy. The OPG website explains how to do this, there is a specified wording which has to be used but most Solicitors have a stamp. It can be tedious writing the sentence out on every page! If you don't use a solicitor, the donor has to have the capacity to understand what they are signing so it's often too late at the point when you need copies.

Copies might be needed for various banks or other companies you need to contract as Attorneys. I paid £25 to get three certified copies of both the LPAs which I thought was a bargain. I then scanned a copy into my computer so I was then able to send it electronically to Social Services and to a Utility company. My printer makes very good copies, unrecognisable from the one from the Solicitor, which I will use for any company who want a paper copy.

I've not needed to show the LPA to many organisations so far but I am just about to begin changing mums details now she lives in a care home and her house is rented out - she has a number of investments that need sorting out ready for when they need to be closed to pay her fees.
 

Claireyeddy

Registered User
Sep 21, 2020
35
0
Hi @Ferrit44 . We have been going through similar issue with my Nan's LPAs. I would highly recommend giving Dementia UK a call - they were really, really helpful in explaining how you can 'enact' a LPA. We are still waiting for the OPG to confirm the advice they gave is correct, but essentially, they told us you can actually make assessments of capacity yourself when you need to make a decision, following guidance under the Mental Capacity Act. Please don't take my word for it at this stage as we are in the process of figuring all of this out for ourselves, but definitely give the Admiral Nurses a call through Dementia UK because there seems to be a huge misconception about assessing capacity and what is actually required by not only GPs but also solicitors and social workers... so it might be less of an issue than you think! I hope this helps in the meantime :)
 

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