Depravation of assets

[Kellymarie322]

Help/advice required please:

Mum has Parkinson’s and dementia and in a care home long term

She has assets of a bungalow £350,000, £16000 savings and £1,000 government old age pension monthly

My sister has obtained this £16k and is withdrawing mums pension every month. She said mum gave her passwords to online banking

My sister owns her own house.

Mum always gave a lot of her money away and has indeed given more to myself than my sister over her lifetime

I am applying through court of protection as there is no power of attorney

My question is:

My sister has spent the money / would the local authority put a charging order on her property?

Would she be prosecuted for fraud/theft? (She has a signed letter from mum that she can access her bank account for what that’s worth)

We are both down as next of kin on her will

Opinions are not helpful thank you only advice please would be very much appreciated

So an update

After a lot of helpful advice - I have contacted a solicitor to deal with court of protection on my behalf

I will then sell mums bungalow approx £340k

I have told solicitor everything concerning my sister. He is if the opinion that although mum has dementia - some days she has capacity to authorise financial decisions. I have recovered half of the money and have stopped withdrawals of cash

I'm hoping that will do it and I may possibly have to face repercussions when and if the cash runs out

I don't think I can do anymore

Hi OP - I think you've had a name change? But I'm pleased you are moving forward and I agree a solicitor will definitely help you. I think I have said previously - but your mums funds can pay for the solicitor so you don't have to. Good luck OP

@ghhghffddfcg

So an update

After a lot of helpful advice - I have contacted a solicitor to deal with court of protection on my behalf

I will then sell mums bungalow approx £340k

I have told solicitor everything concerning my sister. He is if the opinion that although mum has dementia - some days she has capacity to authorise financial decisions. I have recovered half of the money and have stopped withdrawals of cash

I'm hoping that will do it and I may possibly have to face repercussions when and if the cash runs out

I don't think I can do anymore

Excellent.

@Kellymarie322
Have you spoken with your adviser at Parkinson's UK?

RE would it be correct to say that presuming I sold mums house for £350k - LA would not probe missing £10k?Care home fees are £1400 a week

In theory that alone would give you 4 years of fees, with no extras. And that probably long enough that they wouldn't question much deeper, but depends whether you've shared any financial information already that they're able to use automatically as starting point.

Though you may not get £1400 @week renting out your mums property, it maybe worth considering, though obviously if your sis has already had the 16k that leaves less wiggle room.
I wouldn't, at any point, start to pay for her care expecting a refund from the equity as its not always quite so straightforward and not a guarantee.