Hi, My brother and I are in the process of arranging a Health & welfare & a Financial LPA for my Dad who has dementia. We both live with Dad and get along well in our decision-making for Dad’s care. Our plans for the LPA’s are relatively straightforward:
We have chosen to act jointly & severally;
There’ll be no replacement attorneys;
We don’t intend to use the ‘Preferences & instructions’ option on the form;
We aren’t planning on notifying anyone (as there isn’t anyone anyway!).
So, my query is about choosing the certificate provider. We’ve opted to use Dad’s neighbour as they get along well as have known each other years. However, I’ve been doing some research regarding how to determine mental capacity and who could later challenge this. Our neighbour agrees that Dad has capacity, but I’m concerned if any issues crop up in the future that our neighbour could be questioned and asked to prove that she knew how to assess mental capacity to the COP. I don’t want her to be hassled as she is a pensioner herself. I know the safest bet would be to ask a solicitor or psychiatrist, etc, but I’d much rather go with our neighbour as its more informal & less stress for Dad.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that the present LPA forms (since changing in 2015) unlike the old forms don’t require the certificate provider to describe their relationship with the donor. So maybe there isn’t as much emphasis on this area as there used to be.
From what I’ve read so far it seems the areas where you could be challenged at a later stage could be: When someone / institution questions the LPA’s validity, i.e. did the certificate provider judge the donor to have capacity correctly; When a complaint’s been made such as abuse of funds, welfare, etc.
So, in summary I’m guessing in our case that there’s no likelihood of the LPA being challenged (and hence the certificate provider) by individuals because no one else will be notified of the LPA. This leaves only institutions to potentially challenge a LPA. Some examples I’ve gathered where someone could be challenged: by a social worker for discharging someone from hospital too early; going against the wishes of Dr’s.
So, my questions: 1. Could anyone think of any grounds where an institution such as social services or a hospital could get involved & challenge an LPA (and certificate provider)?
I read on 1 thread on here where a social worker cross-referenced a GP about being a certificate provider on the LPA, and amongst other things asked if he knew whether the donor had a consultant psychiatrist.
In our case if it ever got to the stage where Dad had to go into care he’d be self-funding, so I don’t think social services should require any involvement at this stage. But, then again it could always get to the CHC funding stage.
2. Is it likely the certificate provider could be asked by the OPG to prove themselves?
Maybe I’m over analysing, but I thought I’d ask in case anyone has any ideas or suggestions. Thanks in advance for any help.
We have chosen to act jointly & severally;
There’ll be no replacement attorneys;
We don’t intend to use the ‘Preferences & instructions’ option on the form;
We aren’t planning on notifying anyone (as there isn’t anyone anyway!).
So, my query is about choosing the certificate provider. We’ve opted to use Dad’s neighbour as they get along well as have known each other years. However, I’ve been doing some research regarding how to determine mental capacity and who could later challenge this. Our neighbour agrees that Dad has capacity, but I’m concerned if any issues crop up in the future that our neighbour could be questioned and asked to prove that she knew how to assess mental capacity to the COP. I don’t want her to be hassled as she is a pensioner herself. I know the safest bet would be to ask a solicitor or psychiatrist, etc, but I’d much rather go with our neighbour as its more informal & less stress for Dad.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that the present LPA forms (since changing in 2015) unlike the old forms don’t require the certificate provider to describe their relationship with the donor. So maybe there isn’t as much emphasis on this area as there used to be.
From what I’ve read so far it seems the areas where you could be challenged at a later stage could be: When someone / institution questions the LPA’s validity, i.e. did the certificate provider judge the donor to have capacity correctly; When a complaint’s been made such as abuse of funds, welfare, etc.
So, in summary I’m guessing in our case that there’s no likelihood of the LPA being challenged (and hence the certificate provider) by individuals because no one else will be notified of the LPA. This leaves only institutions to potentially challenge a LPA. Some examples I’ve gathered where someone could be challenged: by a social worker for discharging someone from hospital too early; going against the wishes of Dr’s.
So, my questions: 1. Could anyone think of any grounds where an institution such as social services or a hospital could get involved & challenge an LPA (and certificate provider)?
I read on 1 thread on here where a social worker cross-referenced a GP about being a certificate provider on the LPA, and amongst other things asked if he knew whether the donor had a consultant psychiatrist.
In our case if it ever got to the stage where Dad had to go into care he’d be self-funding, so I don’t think social services should require any involvement at this stage. But, then again it could always get to the CHC funding stage.
2. Is it likely the certificate provider could be asked by the OPG to prove themselves?
Maybe I’m over analysing, but I thought I’d ask in case anyone has any ideas or suggestions. Thanks in advance for any help.
