POA question

[kazza73]

Mum has been in a challenging behaviour unit since May. She is finally considered 'stable' enough to discharge to an EMI nursing home- she had almost been discharged back in october but took a downturn and was removed from the discharge list- at the time it looked as if she was very close to the end and it was decided she should remain where she is until she passed, however, mum has miraculously settled again.
My dad has a POA for finance and property but not for welfare. is this likely to cause a problem?
Thus far the family and medical staff have all been in agreement about mum's care etc, there has never been any need for a welfare poa. When we discovered the poa didn't cover welfare we were told that if need be dad could apply for guardianship via the COP, again at that time mum's life looked to be very near the end and as all parties were in agreement about her treatment the consultant didn't think there was a need to go down this route.

As I've said dad has POA for finance etc and mum will be fully self funding in the nursing home.
What are the likely implications of not having welfare POA? Does dad have to apply for guardianship?

thanks in advance

Karen

 

[BeckyJan]

Hello Kazza:

I have Enduring Power of Attorney for my husband which does not include Welfare. I have not found anything to be a problem. Our girls are always in agreement with how we tackle any welfare/health matters, the GPs are happy to talk things through with me and so do the NH nurses and carers . I guess there is a huge difference as a spouse rather than son/daughter

It will be interesting to hear what others have to say.

 

[Nebiroth]

It shouldn't cause any problems, the lack of a welfare LPA just means your dad doesn;t have the legal authority to make certain health and welfare decisions on behalf of your mum. Although being the Nearest Relative (what was called next of kin) gives him a voice in these matters, it carries far less legal authority than people think it does. A welfare LPA gives legal authority which can't be ignored. The next of kin's opinion may be sought and it is often complied with but the authorities are not obliged to do this; a welfare attorney's opinion is in some circumstances legally enforcible

Given that the family (and I assume this includes dad) and medical authorities are all in agreement, then I think guardianship would be a waste of time, effort and money.

A welfare LPA would have been very useful if he had disagreed with medical and social services decisions, although I believe they would still have the final say if it could be shown this was necessary to your mum's health/welfare.

 

[Chemmy]

I've had an enduring POA since 2003 for Mum so no welfare included in that.

It's not been a problem dealing with GPs or CH. I have, however, tried to be proactive and discussed various scenarios with them well in advance so they are in no doubt of my views. I hope this will mean they will find it easier to raise difficult issues with me in the future as they will have a pretty good idea of how I will respond. It also means I'm taking decisions with my head rather than my heart in a crisis situation.

 

[kazza73]

thanks all! That's kind of what i thought.
we've got a review meeting on Monday with the SW and consultant. We'll see what happens at that and should know more about what happens next!

thanks again

Karen