Hi Marinanajane
I have now done more research and you may still be able to complete an LPA - it will depend on how badly affected your OH is at this point in time. In the guidance notes it clearly says that having dementia does not automatically mean you do not have mental capacity to make an LPA.
While looking after my MIL (for whom we did have an old style POA), she had dementia and was in hospital. She wasn't really verbal at the time (could talk just didn't), the NHS/SS had decided she was ready to be discharged but could not go home and had decided without involving us at all, that she would be transferred to a care home. They moved her without even telling us - very annoying. Anyway, we spoke to MIL while she was still in hospital and before they moved her about her options, going home, going into care or coming to live with us. In each case we (I) went enough detail so she knew what the option entailed. To the first two options there was no reaction at all and I wasn't even sure she was listening or taking it in. With the 3rd option, I explained we would have to sell her house and use her money to build on to our house to be able to bring her to live with us - her response was immediate, she looked up and grinned from ear to ear - the nicest smile I had seen on her face for some time! So we did just that, unfortunately in the meantime the SS had moved her to a care home near us that did not identify her incontinence, left her in wet clothes and let her lay in bed all day if she wanted to - the point of this story is to say that you could have assumed my MIL did not have mental capacity to make a decision about her care, yet when asked, it was obvious she did. Anyone watching and listening would have known what she wanted. (BTW she did come to us and lived for almost 2 years - even tho' the CH said she was very frail and would not live long, a few months at the most! I have also no doubt at all that her quality of life was much better too. My MIL was an easy person to have, my OH on the other hand may or may not stay at home as time goes on - he is quite different to his mother!)
Info from the Age UK website:
"An LPA will only be valid if you have the mental capacity to set it up and haven’t been put under any pressure to create it. It must be your decision and you must be able to trust your attorney [this can be anyone you choose], as you’re giving that person power to make decisions about your life."
"Mental capacity is the ability to make a specific decision at the time it needs to be made. To have mental capacity you must understand the decision you need to make, why you need to make it, and the likely outcome of your decision. Some people will be able to make decisions about some things but not others. Mental capacity can change over time and someone may not be able to make a decision at one time, and then be able to make the same decision at another time. Someone with mental capacity is able to communicate decisions through speech, signs, gestures or in other ways. Taking time to understand or communicate may be mistaken for a lack of mental capacity, but having dementia, for example, doesn’t necessarily mean someone can’t make any decisions themselves. If someone is having difficulty communicating what sort of decision they want to make, an attempt should always be made to overcome that difficulty and help the person decide for themselves. Before someone can make a decision for you, they must assess whether you can make the decision yourself. The person making a decision for you must make sure they are acting in your best interests."
"Have the LPA signed by a certificate provider. This is someone who confirms that you understand what the LPA is and haven’t been put under any pressure to sign it. They must be someone you know well or a professional such as a doctor, social worker or solicitor, but can’t be a family member."
If you can not find a 'certificate provider' that will sign to say your OH understands as the paragraph above explains, then trying to get a LPA now will not work, however, if you do have someone you know (does not have to be a professional - just someone that knows your husband and not related) willing to sign as the 'certificate provider' then you can still do an LPA.
Hope this helps - do let me know if you want any more info or help with this.