How to exercise power of attorney

[MyDadIsTheGreatest]

My 86 y.o. father has terminal bladder cancer and was given 6-12 months to live when diagnosed 5 months ago.

Since having radiotherapy he's had problems with his leg which have affected his mobility. No-one is clear on the cause though he's due to have a CT scan next month. In less than 2 month he's gone from fit & healthy and going for an hour's walk every day to being unable to dress/undress independently, needing a zimmer frame, having falls & struggling to eat. He's unable to leave the house.

My brother & I are arranging in-home carers for him. We both have power of attorney for health & finances.

When do we need to start exercising power of attorney and how? What do we do? We need to arrange for his care to be paid (he will be self-funding). I have no idea where to start.

Sorry to hear that, are the lpa both registered, you can start the financial one straight away if it's registered and he is happy for you to do this,check the lpa paperwork to see if it says anything about when you can start it, it will either be once registered or when he loses capacity. You just take all the signed copies of the financial poa to his bank, they will then update his records and give you a poa bankcard. You cannot start the health poa unless he loses capacity. It's always worth letting his bank, solicitors and GP know the lpa are registered.

Is the poa for finance activated? If it isn't get that done. If you're in England you'll then get a poa account with ability to generate access codes which you then give to any institution that he uses eg banks , building societies utilities, DWP, HMRC.
You'll then get access to his bank accounts with your own login and you can operate them yourself and pay all his bills.
Keep meticulous records. I have a spreadsheet and whenever I do a transaction on my dad's account I record it in a spreadsheet.
If he has capacity you can't use the health and welfare one.

In Scotland they don't have the codes so you have to take the original or certified copy of the poa to the bank.
You can apply for attendance allowance under the special rules too and use your poa to apply for it. I got my dad's AA through very quickly even without the special rules. Good luck!

It's also worth letting his hospital records department, any macmillan team qnd care agency know you have poa. As he is so poorly you can speak to his GP about fast track funding for his care.

The Gov.UK website explains how to activate his lpa, you should have a letter with the reference number

Sorry to hear your news. It’s an emotionally and energy draining time.

I am not clear if there is a POA there
but just needing to be activated?

if you don’t have POA drawn up and ready to go, don’t panic. There is quite a lot you can do without it and there are still somethings you can’t do with it. Without it you You can set the payments up from his bank accounts for the carers. My parents bank would have let me be nominated to the account and have a card too. With my POA I CAN do more and it’s definitely worth having but I can’t for example access their accounts on an app. And whilst the government system to get a code is very simple, even providers who recognise the system can have problems administering it; I’ve reached a stalemate with a broadband provider that Kafka himself couldn’t make up.

anyway; some other basics. I am caring for my mum currently and previously my dad who died of cancer. His terminal diagnosis turned on a stream of help including carers and also expedited attendance allowance. Obviously I am glad he got the help but I do note the disparity with my mother’s experience. Anyhow, you may be able to get more assistance than you think. Can you talk to his nurse/hospital?

https://use-lasting-power-of-attorney.service.gov.uk/home

I have just activated my Mum's property and finance one, you just register it here and then you get codes for online activation with banks etc. The health one will be the same for GP, carers, etc

If he still has mental capacity, he can decide when you help. If he’s lost capacity, the LPA can be used to manage his finances and arrange care. I’d check with the OPG about the next steps.

Thanks for all the really helpful replies.

We do have LPA set up already, but need to activate it. I didn't know how to do that so that's been really useful to know - ta.

The LA are providing some equipment for the house but it's very slow - they took weeks to do an assessment and it will be another 8-10 weeks before some of it is installed. We're organising carers ourselves as he's too well off for LA funded care.

Has he had a full care needs assessment, what equipment are they providing, is it sufficient. As he has been falling will he be nursed in a hospital style bed with a falls alarm system and falls mats. Do you know why he is struggling to eat, that's something his GP, district nurse or community dietician can help with. Even if he's fully self funding he is entitled to a free care needs assessment, possibly fast track funding and claiming attendance allowance. Do you have a longer term plan, does he wish to stay at home.

If you're organising self-funded carers you need to activate the finance LPA now, because you will need to pay them from your father's account, assuming he is unable to make the payments himself, or he would prefer you to do it. And of course it will enable you to pay any other bills on his behalf.

If he is still able to make decisions about his own health you don't need to use the health & welfare LPA. But if he isn't, then that is the point you start using it.

I only have my own experience to draw on however, the terminal cancer diagnosis for my dad meant he got carers paid for without his income being looked at -this may have been time limited in terms of how many weeks in total he could have, I don’t know but it’s worth asking. Yourdad should have a key nurse to contact about matters relating to his health and care - this may be MacMillan. My dad’s MacMillan nurse wasn’t great but she did sort the care and attendance allowance.

its always a good idea to activate the POA
however, I stand by my comment that it’s not the be all and end all. Re: carers, for my Mum, we filled a direct debit form in and she signed it. No need for POA. For a long time before I had the POA, the bank would simply get phone permission from my mum to talk to me. I’m not understating the power of a POA, however if the person still has some capability you should be able to get by until it’s through.

just editing as I forgot to add that I think the real power of POA is in dementia cases and for very final end of life if bills aren’t getting paid and the person is absolutely so unwell they can’t engage. Again, I’m sorry you are going through this and I hope you and your family enjoy some final time with your dad.