LPA - Can my Dad's GP act as the certificate provider?

[TheFurryMenace]

My dad would like my sister and I to take care of all the things he is finding tricky now (basically, managing all his finances). However, when I tried to discuss power of attorney with him, he got all agitated as he doesnt want a solicitor involved (we've previously encouraged my dad to make a will, but he refuses), he hates any authority and sees solicitors as this.

I read somewhere that the certificate provider could be a 'relevent professional e.g. doctor'. I think my Dad would let us do the power of attorney forms if it were only his GP involved.

Has anyone had experience of the GP doing this? I want to be informed before I ring his surgery as worried they might try and fob me off.

Thanks in advance.

You don't need a solicitor to set up a POA, the forms are all on line.

I think you can ask them if they will do i. If they agree, it is not NHs work so there would be a fee. Most practices will clearly state the cost when you enquiry. The only problem might be if your father’s dementia I should advanced to the extent that he lacks capacity to appoint LPA

Thank you Canary.

Furrycushion, thank you, yes, but someone needs to act as the certificate provider, and it is stated that that can be 'a solicitor or a relevant professional e.g. doctor'.

You can't activate a poa until he's lost capacity. But before then there's nothing to stop him simply giving you permission to act on his behalf.

A financial POA can be used immediately. Health & welfare has to wit until capacity lost. I don't know what you mean by the certificate provider? We didn't have one of those when we set up POAs.
www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/making-decisions-for-someone-else/giving-someone-power-of-attorney/

Yes you can we asked fil g.p. to act as his certificate provider, she charged 100 pounds and this was just for the financial p.o.a. pp is right, financial p.o.a. can be used as soon as it's registered but you must look through the paperwork and sign the right box, it will give a choice of now or in the future. The receptionist tried to fob me off and say we needed a solicitor but I am a h.c.p. knew the rules and read up on the gov.uk site, you can ring the office of the public guardian who will send you the paperwork or download them yourself but you'll use a lot of ink. The website tells you who can act in what capacity. You don't need to involve a solicitor at all if you don't want to. If he doesn't want to do it you can apply to the banks to have third parry access but he needs to agree to this and go to the bank to sign the forms. If he has already lost capacity you can apply to the court of protection to become deputies.

Yes we used Mum’s GP as she had been diagnosed with Dementia and we wanted to cover ourselves about any questions about her capacity was at the time it was done and felt GP doing it would help that. That was only for the financial one and we were very lucky that he didn’t charge itnand just signed it there and then after talking to Mum.

Furry, it's on page 11 of the po.a. application form. An independent witness has to sign that the person understands the process and has mental capacity, it can be someone who they've known for at least two years such as a friend, neighbour or colleague or a professional such as a doctor, lawyer or social worker. It can't be any of the attorneys named on the p.o.a.

We just got our neighbour to sign it. However, he has to have capacity to give you permission.

Oh goodness, Thank you for all the information, you’ve all been so helpful.

I'm a GP, we don't do them as it's taking on a significant legal risk for which our professional indemnity may not cover us. There are lots of GPs around who will, they are largely naive of the risks they are taking on.

What risk is there of the person's own g.p. assessing them in a care home or in any situation and signing, they can do a capacity assessment at the same time, have known the person for years. Getting a neighbour or colleague carries a risk, they won't always know the medical history, know how to ascertain capacity and may not really be honest and just feel pressurised to sign.

Oh yes, I see what you mean now. Our closest friends signed ours.

@HoleyCoMoley the risk is that a relative challenges the decision in which case the gp could get dragged into court. I am trained to assess capacity for a medical decision. Arguably that training doesn't apply to assessing capacity for a financial or legal decision as capacity is of course time and decision specific. Medicolegal doctors who work privately charge four figure sums to do this work which reflects the risk. GPs who do it for £100 will regret it when they are dragged into court.

The certificate provider can be someone that the donor has known for at least two years. We asked my mum's closest friend who had known her for many years. Basically the job of the certificate provider is to ensure that the donor understands what they are agreeing to. Obviously if an adversarial situation is anticipated then people may not wish to go down this road but since the Office of the Public Guardian deems it appropriate that someone who knows the donor is an appropriate person to be a certificate provider then I think some of the comments on this thread about assessing capacity and being "dragged into court" are somewhat over the top.