Power of attorney meaning carer?

[Kmward36]

My grandmother has issues with finances (sending money to people over Facebook - a lot of money) thinking she was in relationships with people. On average £10,000 a week by the time we found out about it.

Social services and the fraud team advised that POA would be beneficial to reduce the risk of this continuing. Grandmother agreed

Grandmother has 2 children. One doesn’t speak to her due to the online issues and one didnt want POA. She still talks to her everyday and she calls once a week for the day. Lives in walking distance from her. Works part time and has grown to children.

I was given POA . All registered etc.

the biggest issue is that the daughter (and her children - in late 20’s) are refusing to help grandmother with anything. They won’t even bring her a pint of milk when they call, because they said I’m POA and I’m her ‘carer’ and they’re not allowed to do anything.

i currently work full time, have 2 small children and I’m pregnant. I take her to all of her appointments, do her cleaning, food shopping etc. she has no money left for help and she is on the social services list for help but it’s a long list.

are they just using the POA as an excuse ? I signed up to be an advocate for her health and finances, but now I feel like a complete slave.

any advice?

Yes just using it as an excuse!
all POA does is give you the legal ability to manage her finances.

are they just using the POA as an excuse ? - yes.

Send them a summary from Court of Protection website of what PofA is and make it clear that this does not make you the carer.

They're talking bollocks

Thanks everyone, glad I didn’t have the wrong end of the stick.

ill happily do as much as I can but I cannot do everything.

I’ve found the summery from the court of protection and I’ll let them know.

So neither of them wanted to take on the PoA role, and now that you have, they think everything else can be foisted on to you?
Fuck that noise.
I hope you can see off the scammers and con-artists who've been bleeding your poor grandmother dry.

Read up on what POA means. I have four, two not yet activated, two active.

The only shopping I'm doing is for my household and the only person I take to medical appointments is myself or my child!

Thanks, I did have a good read through, a meeting with age concerns and a solicitor before I agreed. I thought I understood but wanted to check I hadn’t missed something completely!

really annoyed they feel it’s ok to take advantage in this way but I will attempt to straighten things out this week 🤞🏻

If she needs assistance that you cannot provide, and the rest of the family refuse to provide, then you will have to look at buying it in, which as you hold POA you can do

I recommend you keep comprehensive records - eg cleaning/laundry/gardening required X hours a week; assessment of that need shared with family on (date), no disagreements, and also nil response to request for help from family members. Quotes obtained from 3x providers, Y selected because (reasons)

If she's struggling to cope with day-to-day living, then apply for Attendance Allowance for her, as that is designed to take a bite out of costs when you have to start hiring help.

I'm assuming she still has capacity, so you do not have a health POA activated. If you are accompanying her to appointments (and that's something that is probably best done by you) can you make sure that one convo she has with her GP is her giving her consent for you to have access to her health information (and that this consent is recorded in writing)

Thank you. I have kept a record of everything so far so will keep on doing it!

Unfortunately as she has transferred all of her money to people online she hasn’t got any money to buy any care. We are on the waiting list for home services with social services.

that’s really useful to know about the GP. I’ll get her to sort that out this week.

thank you

Yes the family is taking the piss. POA does not make you fully responsible for all their needs, only gives you the ability to access and manage their finances or consult with medical staff over health needs if they are incapacitated.
You can relinquish POA at any time (look online for details) it is a voluntary agreement.

As everyone else has said, they are talking rubbish. You are her attorney not her carer.

As a previous poster said, please do apply for Attendance Allowance. You can apply on your grandmother's behalf as her attorney. The forms are fairly lengthy but it is well worth doing, and could be used to buy in some care for her (it can be used for whatever you want).

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/benefits-entitlements/attendance-allowance/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAr7C6BhDRARIsAOUKifiOmIkrUFJIo1NGyRtN_G-GqZLpD0j3GYPuvBjgKauZWEqFzBoJJsoaAl1nEALw_wcB

Call your grandmother's GP surgery and ask for assistance from a Social Prescriber.

They can point you in the direction if the relevant services and help you to apply for Attendance Allowance.

Also, you can ask your GP to confirm loss of capacity and get a 100% discount on council tax.

Just by doing those two things has meant that my grandparents are £750/month better off!