What happens if there is no attorney?

Juliem61

Registered User
Oct 13, 2015
23
0
Dad is in hospital for assessment and the doctors have told us that he will not be returning home and will be going into a care home.

Dad is not married to his partner and has not appointed anyone with power of attorney.

Can anyone help me with advice please?

Who is responsible for making his financial and health care decisions now? Is it me and my sister? Is it his partner?

I hate writing this, it feels like I'm talking about money when I should be talking about Dad but all of these worries are going round and round in my head. How do we pay his bills?
 

Beate

Registered User
May 21, 2014
12,179
0
London
If there is no POA and no chance of still registering one, whoever wants to look after his affairs will have to apply for deputyship. This takes longer and is more expensive, plus you hardly ever get one granted for health and welfare. When it comes to those decisions, the next of kin's views are usually taken into account.
 

Juliem61

Registered User
Oct 13, 2015
23
0
If there is no POA and no chance of still registering one, whoever wants to look after his affairs will have to apply for deputyship. This takes longer and is more expensive, plus you hardly ever get one granted for health and welfare. When it comes to those decisions, the next of kin's views are usually taken into account.

Thanks Beate. I've just had a look at the costs. Wow! That is quite expensive.
What happens if no-one puts themselves forward or if the dementia sufferer doesn't have a support network, or, if you can't afford to apply for deputyship?
 

woodbrooklabs

Registered User
Aug 17, 2015
45
0
Have been wondering exactly the same thing. My dad still lives at home, but absolutely no way he would agree to power of attorney as he is so suspicious. Even getting him to the doctor is a nightmare. So I was also wondering what happens in this situation, whenever he does not have capacity.
 

Juliem61

Registered User
Oct 13, 2015
23
0
I have now sent a text to my dad's partner asking whether LPA was organised when she and Dad organised their wills. What a very uncomfortable message that was to send. Unfortunately, although I have an OK relationship with her, we are not particularly close and I have tried my best to explain that I am only asking out of concern for her and my dad and to help as much as I can if needed.

Hopefully, it has been sorted out already. In my experience nothing causes rifts in families quite as quickly an money, especially if there's sadness involved.
 

tealover

Registered User
Sep 8, 2011
168
0
We were in a similar situation with Mum......into hospital never to go home with nothing set up. The Consultant said that she had sufficient capacity to understand POA.....and was happy to witness.

However Mum saw it as suspicious and refused to sign on the day - despite both the Solicitor and myself explaining to her and her agreeing, its just the nature of the illness. So I had to go down COP route. What I would say is that yes it is expensive and it is very time consuming (as I am just doing my first annual report) but it is easy enough if you pay proper attention to the forms.

If you think your Dad has any capacity at all it may be worth pursuing POA and seeing if you can get him to agree to it.

Good luck, it is such a minefield!!


x
 

Juliem61

Registered User
Oct 13, 2015
23
0
We were in a similar situation with Mum......into hospital never to go home with nothing set up. The Consultant said that she had sufficient capacity to understand POA.....and was happy to witness.

However Mum saw it as suspicious and refused to sign on the day - despite both the Solicitor and myself explaining to her and her agreeing, its just the nature of the illness. So I had to go down COP route. What I would say is that yes it is expensive and it is very time consuming (as I am just doing my first annual report) but it is easy enough if you pay proper attention to the forms.

If you think your Dad has any capacity at all it may be worth pursuing POA and seeing if you can get him to agree to it.

Good luck, it is such a minefield!!


x

Thanks for your help. I have spoken to Dad's partner and apparently he was advised to sort this out when he was diagnosed but he was suspicious (this was his nature before dementia as well).
Dad's partner wants to do nothing at the moment and wait until we hit a financial obstacle. I don't know if this is sensible or a big mistake but, there is so much to worry about, although I find it easier to do practical things when the proverbial hits the fan, his partner is overloaded and just wants to withdraw from everything.
I don't want to push her unless it's absolutely necessary.
I'm fairly certain that he no longer has capacity to make this decision.
 

Beate

Registered User
May 21, 2014
12,179
0
London
She can't handle his affairs without any kind of authorisation. What if the bank freezes his account? Putting your head in the sand rarely helps.
 

Juliem61

Registered User
Oct 13, 2015
23
0
She can't handle his affairs without any kind of authorisation. What if the bank freezes his account? Putting your head in the sand rarely helps.

I agree. She says that his bills etc are all paid by direct debit, his house is paid for, she has her own money independent of Dad and he is in hospital so there are no fees to pay.

I think this is a mistake. In effect she is waiting for things to get worse before she attempts to sort it out but, as I say, we don't have a close relationship and I am reluctant to push her too hard.
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
25,018
0
South coast
COP takes several months to go through. In my case it took 8 months, although I gather that is unusual - its usually 3 or 4.
However, if you leave it until its needed, then that is going to be too long. Much better to get it done in advance.
 

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