No POA and future care

[Skippythebeercan]

To cut a long story short it seems very likely that my parent will need care in the next few years if not sooner. We have no POA and although their OH has now talked about getting it, I think that ship has sailed as I don't believe that they have the capacity to be able to confirm that they know what they are doing and I can't imagine a solicitor agreeing to complete the paperwork.

So deputyship is probably the way forward, but, is it at all possible to manage without it? If accounts are all joint could the other parent administer things? - Even if/when they need a carehome?

The reason for asking is that there is a huge amount of denial and apathy and so there will be no urgency to gain deputyship until there is absolutely no choice, or probably when it is too late and there is a financial mess.

Its not ideal at all and elderly people sticking their head in the sands time and time again causing immense issues for the wider family is probably for another thread.

I think the one light is that if all accounts are joint it might help but my late Father was definitely on the cusp when we took him to a solicitor to assess capacity. He was in a real mess and luckily the solicitor gave us an immediate POA whilst we applied for the longer one. It worked very well and is this something you can do. It was called a General Power of Attorney and signed by the solicitor.

Quite honestly do not get yourself dragged into this and my one piece of advice is to really lay down the law to parents even if it means you need to indicate that you will withdraw assistance.

Their other half isn’t your parent?

They are my parent. Sorry a not very good attempt at being anonymous.

Joint accounts are a saviour at least temporarily but even if you can't get POA for both parents at least get it for the OH. If they fall ill/die it will be an absolute nightmare.

Deputyship can't be applied for until the person has lost capacity to manage their finances. And there is a separate MCA for finances which needs to be completed as part of the application.

Also the Court is highly unlikely to aware Deputyship for health and welfare these days. If there is still a chance of PoA for finances plus one for health and welfare I would push for it now. Saves a fortune and makes the whole process much smoother. If not, then I would start the process of ensuring there is enough money in joint accounts to cover 9 to 10 months of bills plus solicitors fee and the costs of an independent MCA for the Deputyship application. It is possible to do this all yourself but it is a pain. And yes the duty social worker may do the MCA for you but in reality you could be waiting a long time.