Social care/court of protection/LPA thoughts or advice

[Shortperson]

My mum is 96 and live at home with no care - she refused any help and my brother refused to organise care for her. I couldn’t do anything as I couldn’t access her finances.

My brother ran her finances but neither my mum or brother would agree to me having anything to do with her money. My brother and me are LPAs jointly and severally. The reason was that my brother didn’t trust me and Mum was suspicious of me. My brother did try to have me removed as the other LPA by calling a Solicitor to Mum;s house when I asked to see Mum’s finances.

Mum fell on the floor three weeks ago, I found her and called an ambulance she was taken to A&E and is now in reablement ward. She has been diagnosed with no capacity/Alzheimer’s.

When I visited my mum a nurse pulled me aside and asked for a chat…she asked me what had been going on and I told her how mum had been neglecting herself and how I’d been shut out of her finances. My brother and me have had a best interests meeting on the phone and it seems she is not safe to go home. I explained that I’d been very worried about mum’s welfare but my hands were tied financially.

The paramedics did a safeguarding referral and social care called me to say that my brother is being investigated and might be removed as the other attorney.

Mum is still in a hospital recuperating but wants to go home.

What happens now?

You might want to ask MN to move this to the elderly parents board OP, chat is pretty fast moving so posts like yours can get lost and I've always had really good advice and support from the elderly parents area?

I'm no expert, but is the LPA for finances or health/best interests or both? As far as I know you don't need to have direct control of her money to get social services to arrange an assessment to get care and support at home, or to place her in a home if that's what's needed although certainly the latter could be more tricky if your brother is determined to make things difficult. I certainly think there needs to be a social care and OT assessment of her before going home is talked of, usually the reablement wards are pretty hot on sorting that out, has it been done yet? Do you think your mum would cope at home with some physical adaptations (grab rails etc), carers 4 x a day (the max the LA will likely give her and she will have to pay a means-assessed contribution for it) and whatever help you and other family can provide, or do you think the time has come for residential care? I can't quite understand from your post whether you are worried that your brother would be likely to try and block a move to a home because of the financial implications? If so first step is to get an assessment done by professionals to confirm a home is what she needs, then identify the most suitable type of provision for her (ie does she need nursing or residential care, does it need to be a dementia specific unit or will normal residential be OK) and if you can, go and visit a few homes to get a feel of them yourself so you can advocate for the best possible option for her. Like I say I'm not a legal expert but seems unlikely to me your brother would be able to insist she returns home with no or unsuitable care package purely because he controls the finances now that SS are on the case, esp if he doesn't have a sensible alternative plan to put forward...

What a stressful situation.