Power of attorney for a dementia suffer

Power of attorney for a dementia suffer

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Vasco

14,873 posts

92 months

Yesterday (11:31)
quotequote all
alscar said:
DickyC said:
You may well be right. It was all done through a firm of solicitors who told us they needed mum's agreement to allow us to act for her. They were monumentally unhelpful. The point I was hoping to make is it may not be as straightforward as it appears. The solicitors told us they were acting for mum, not for us, and her interests came first. Very frustrating. They just needed her agreement to allow the PoA to commence and she wouldn't let go.

I'll see if I can find the papers to quote the problem as the solicitors saw it.
That really doesn’t sound right at all and as Vasco said once you as the donee has received the paperwork and registration from the OPG you are “good to go “ when needed.
I wonder if the Solicitors in your Mum’s case had also been added to said POA though - I only say this as when my Mum did hers the Solicitor wanted to hang onto all the originals ( we had received all the necessary paperwork ) and told my Mum it was safer that way !
I now have the originals and hopefully won’t need them although I’m not over confident sadly.
I, and friends, have done them ourselves - it's fairly straightforward in most 'simple' cases (like the ones on this thread recently). It takes a bit of care and time but you all end up with what you want. I would, however, use a suitable solicitor if the circumstances are more difficult, or companies involved, foreign etc etc

PianoManYork

110 posts

2 months

Yesterday (11:37)
quotequote all
I did all mine myself. All three of us plus witnesses signed and it was all returned as complete within a couple of weeks iirc.

oddman

1,732 posts

239 months

Vasco said:
I, and friends, have done them ourselves - it's fairly straightforward in most 'simple' cases (like the ones on this thread recently). It takes a bit of care and time but you all end up with what you want. I would, however, use a suitable solicitor if the circumstances are more difficult, or companies involved, foreign etc etc
As well as complexity of affairs, don't underestimate the potential for families to complicate even simple affairs. LPAs are probably second only to wills for fomenting suspicion and disharmony.

In addition be aware that by far the biggest financial loss to elderly people through fraud/financial abuse is committed under their noses using LPA.

Health and Welfare powers of attorney can lead to very difficult situations if an attorney has a different view to other non attorney family members. A donor might have preferred the decision making and views of the donee. More likely they hadn't considered the possibility of disharmony amongst children.

Legal advice, whilst far more costly than DIY, might save a more expensive dispute later

Vasco

14,873 posts

92 months

oddman said:
Vasco said:
I, and friends, have done them ourselves - it's fairly straightforward in most 'simple' cases (like the ones on this thread recently). It takes a bit of care and time but you all end up with what you want. I would, however, use a suitable solicitor if the circumstances are more difficult, or companies involved, foreign etc etc
As well as complexity of affairs, don't underestimate the potential for families to complicate even simple affairs. LPAs are probably second only to wills for fomenting suspicion and disharmony.

In addition be aware that by far the biggest financial loss to elderly people through fraud/financial abuse is committed under their noses using LPA.

Health and Welfare powers of attorney can lead to very difficult situations if an attorney has a different view to other non attorney family members. A donor might have preferred the decision making and views of the donee. More likely they hadn't considered the possibility of disharmony amongst children.

Legal advice, whilst far more costly than DIY, might save a more expensive dispute later
All very true, that's why I referred to 'simple' cases - typically just 1-2 children trying to care for parents. Even a LPA drawn up by a solicitor will be of little added value if an unexpected issue arises later.