Lasting power of attorney

[kennedy1948]

My husband Tony has vascular dementia and I have been advised to get LPA by Doctor from the memory clinic. I would welcome any advice on my situation please. We have made mirror wills so our house is willed to each other and then our 2 children. My husband's State pension and mobility allowance has always been paid directly into my bank account so I am not sure what I should do about LPA.

He has now been prescribed mematone by the memory clinic which is making him much brighter

 

[sue38]

You may not need a Power of Attorney now, or indeed in the future, but what if you wanted to sell the house to move to somewhere more suitable, speak to the bank about a suspicious transaction on your husband's bank statement, or cancel a contract you'd forgotten was in his name?

If I were you I would look at doing Powers of Attorney now, whilst you have the window of opportunity.

This factsheet on Lasting Powers of Attorney may help.

Edited to add: You might also look at doing Powers of Attorney for health and welfare decisions. The medical profession seem to be asking more now about this, for example I heard a care worker asking if anyone had authority to authorise the giving of to a 'flu jab.

 

[retiredcopper]

I too agree that you should think about getting POA for both Financial & Welfare matters before your husband's dementia becomes such that he can't give you authority to apply. Although you may have most of your finances jointly there will always be some organisation that will demand sight of a POA before speaking to you about your husbands financial affairs ie. credit cards, insurance, any utilities that are solely in his name. Also, when it comes to health & welfare, just because you are Next of kin doesn't necessarily mean the medical profession will keep you in the loop. The first thing a lot of medical staff, social workers, financial organisations ask is 'Do you have POA' & it helps enormously if you do.
You can download the forms & complete them yourself or, if it seems too daunting, you can get a solicitor to do it for you. Hopefully you will never need to use them but it's best to be prepared.
As for mirror wills - they only apply once one of you dies - when this happens the POA ceases to be valid.

 

[Cloverland]

Not wishing to confuse things more, you say you have mirror wills, have you thought about tenant in common wills. My parents did this, when one parent dies their share is left to the children or whoever you want. Does not affect the surviving partner from continuing to live there as they still own their share.

Back to your original post, LPA's are a good idea but as has been mentioned they cease once person dies, but if you have joint accounts PoA etc may not be required.

We don't have PoA health for dad and so far not causing a problem with authorities, they speak with me quite freely, they have never asked for authority. However, several years ago my parents did write a letter to the gp giving authority to discuss all medical issues with me.

 

[lin1]

Hello.
I too recommend doing LPAs. in fact I would do both the Financial and property and the health and welfare one.
The health and welfare one is more of an insurance for you, hopefully you will never need it, but if in the future you come across someone spouting they cant tell you about his health because of confidentiality , then you can happily wave it in front of their nose.

If a bank suspects a person is no longer able to operate their bank accounts , they can freeze the account even one held jointly.

I advise getting the LPAs registered straight away , rather than waiting till you actually need it.
Having one registered Will enable you to deal with his finances and any other things that are solely in his name, for example , life insurance , council tax etc.
without many weeks of delay whilst waiting for the OPG to register it and send document back to you.
Also if their are any mistakes on the form, they can be rectified
Hope this helps

 

[leicester61]

Hi Kennedy
I agree with those that say get both POA, Health & Wealth. I have just completed it myself online, it was so easy, currently costs approx 110.00 each unless you are on certain benefits. On average solicitors were quoting me 800.00 plus !!!!!!!!!!!!!

The guide for filling in the POA 's is really easy to use to, it must be because I managed it lol. Good Luck Kennedy
suz x

 

[Raggedrobin]

I agree, get PoA in place. You don't have to be ill to do it, in fact a nurse told me she recommends everyone should have it in place, in case one ended up unable to make decisions at a later date. The point is, you don't need to activate it now or even ever if not necessary but things can get complicated if you don't have it.

 

[jaymor]

When my husband was diagnosed we both made had a LOA drawn up. Hopefully I may never need mine but if I do then it is there, ready and waiting.

It is not only dementia that can bring an LPA I to play. We have a friend who had an horrific motor cycle accident which has left him without capacity to deal with his everyday life. Yes he will receive a large compensation pay out but it will be a stranger, charging hefty fees who will be deciding how his money is spent.

Jay

 

[Em01]

Welfare power of attorney

Does anyone know if you can set up a welfare power of attorney, if you are no longer judged to be able to make decisions for yourself? Reading the information it seems that you should do it to express wishes before you loose your memory and abilities, but we are pass this stage now. My mother has dementia and has a financial power of attorney but not one to cover welfare.
If you can't is there anything else that can be set up so sons and daughters have a legal right to make decisions about a surviving parents welfare when they are unable to make decisions for themselves.

 

[lin1]

Hello Em01. Welcome to TP
Hope this helps
My understanding of the Health and welfare LPAs is, that it is the same a as the Finance and property LPA in that the person must be able to understand at the time it is explained to them by the certificate provider. Ability to remember does not come into it, nor does having a diagnosis of Dementia.

Their is I believe Deputyship for health but it is seldom granted.

 

[jenniferpa]

Does anyone know if you can set up a welfare power of attorney, if you are no longer judged to be able to make decisions for yourself? Reading the information it seems that you should do it to express wishes before you loose your memory and abilities, but we are pass this stage now. My mother has dementia and has a financial power of attorney but not one to cover welfare.
If you can't is there anything else that can be set up so sons and daughters have a legal right to make decisions about a surviving parents welfare when they are unable to make decisions for themselves.

If your mother is no longer competent to create a welfare LPA (and the standard is exactly the same as for a financial LPA) your only option is to apply for a welfare deputyship (and as lin1 said, these aren't often granted in England - it's a different story in Scotland).

The reason they aren't often granted (basically they are only granted where there is an ongoing, very variable need for this sort decision making) because the MCA 2005 gives the sort of coverage that as a family member you would expect to have. Now I'm not saying it always works perfectly, but this is one of those things where if you think someone outside of the family is making inappropriate decisions, your best bet to to wave the MCA guidance in front of that person.

 

[Em01]

Thank you for your posts. YOu all confirmed what I thought.

 

[Optomistic]

My husband has early stage Alzheimers he was diagnosed in July. The mental health nurse adviced us to set up Lasting Power of Attorney for health and finance while he still has capacity. We are having this done by a solicitor and have also changed the deeds for the house to tennants in common. Our wills have also been changed so my half of the house goes to the children and not my husband should i die first. This is the best thing you can do to protect your home and finances. It is is expensive but worth paying to get peace of mine.