To ask you what you know about lasting power of attorney for health and welfare?

[Anxiousally]

My mum is my grans carer. Gran has dementia which is progressing. Also in investigative stages of a possible cancer diagnosis. Should my mum be applying for LPA for her health and welfare as she's losing the ability to make her own decisions/can't retain information for long enough. What does she need to do or can she not do it now due to my grans dementia? I know not really an aibu but I want to help her but I'm a lost!

I think it is too late if gran no longer has capacity, sadly. Same for the financial one.
Suggest a chat with age UK.

If your gran is better at some times of the day then it is still possible that a POA can be done. If I remember correctly a Doctor and/or solicitor can assess capacity and document that your gran is capable. PAO is much much easier (and cheaper) to get than Guardianship - I know as we have been down the Guardianship path several years ago.

As PP has said, your Gran would need to still have capacity in order to set up a PoA.

In my Mum's case, I was sent out of the room and the Solicitor asked Mum if she understood what she was doing and what the PoA meant.

If you feel your Gran does understand this, please do it ASAP - having them both made life so so much easier when my Mum did lose the capacity to make decisions for herself.

She definitely has capacity to concent to it on most days and looks to my mum for help with all medical decisions egg. My mum doesn't want her to have to make any confusing or upsetting decisions regards cancer treatment if it comes to that.

Definately do it ASAP. I did both for my DF without a solicitor - not difficult to do.

you don't need a solicitor, just a certificate provider, witnesses and an attorney.

costs £82 and takes 10 weeks to register.

you don't need a solicitor, just a certificate provider, witnesses and an attorney. for the avoidance of doubt, attorney in this case means the person who will make decisions on gran's behalf, not an "attorney at law".

The only thing I would add is that poa for finances is much more helpful and important so if your gran is able then get that too.
She needs to have capacity to understand what she is signing and no, a solicitor isn't necessary however given her dementia it would be wise to have a gp, solicitor or social worker to do the capacity assessment.

I'd disagree that the finance one is more helpful, I work in terminal care and the two work best together in my experience, especially with things like dementia. For example, if there is a dispute between a hospital and your mum about where your gran is discharged to after a fall, then she will need the health and welfare to have an input, without it they may make decisions eg on care homes, without her input. This is especially true if her care is local authority funded.
If your grandma is in receipt of pension credits then she may be able to get a significant discount on the cost of registering. All of the information on this is on the .gov website, but the Age UK and Alzheimer's Society phone lines will also be able to have a chat with your mum if she has questions.

What @JustKeepDancing said, they are both important. If you can, do both.

Actually, thinking about it, it might be worth suggesting to your mum that she sees if the Alzheimer's Society or a similar charity for Carers run support groups or have advice workers where she is. They were very helpful for my friend who was a carer, they talked her through applying for council tax discount and attendance allowance for her dad etc, which meant she could claim carers allowance.

You can do it on line and I think you have to do both anyway. £82 each and someone to witness independently on behalf of your Gran to confirm she's happy with the decision.

Thanks - apologies if not clear.

You fill it in online but it still needs printing and signing.

Thankyou all. She lives with my mum. Mum is going to clarify a few bits with age UK tomorrow then hopefully get the ball rolling.

If gran still has capacity get the poa's done ASAP....If left too late then you a talking court of protection and that costs££££.
They really do make everything easier

Firstly, she’ll need an assessment of capacity. Most GP’s won’t touch this with a barge pole. In our area it needs to be done by a private psychiatrist.

Just want to add....If anyone has a relative who lives alone with a severe mental impairment (SMI) like dementia, stroke etc then they are exempt from council tax and I think this can be back dated
As far as I know it just needs to be confirmed by GP/consultant

When we did my DM's POA we didn't have to get an assessment of capacity, but I don't know whether that is because she doesn't have any mental capacity issues.

You do need someone to sign that they are happy that your Gran understands, at the time of signing, what the POA form is. We used a neighbour of my DM's for this, think you need someone who has known them for over 2 years, and isn't related to any other party, or you can use a professional eg solicitor, GP, social worker, but there will probably be a cost to use them.

We tried to get POA for my DF when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year, but his mental capacity deteriorated so rapidly that we missed the boat.

We arranged a POA for my DM even though she is in good health as not having one for my DF just added stress to what was already a stressful situation. We registered the POA immediately and have set it up so we can use it straight after it has been approved, in case we ever need to.

A finance one is important because a bank can freeze a person's account once they are aware they have diminished mental capacity, and therefore there would be problems paying for care etc