Power of attorney versus next of kin?

[whatabeautifuldaytoday]

Just wonder if anyone can advise on some rights when it comes to next of kin.

My 82 year old aunt got married to her 80 year old husband two years ago. His children have power of attorney for him but he was recently diagnosed with dementia. Early stages and he is otherwise ok at the moment. My aunt is worried that if things were to progress, that his children could (as POA) move him into a care home or insist he live with them, thus freezing her out.

These fears might be just that, fears but it has made her wonder what rights she has as next of kin? Her hope would be for her husband to live with her (with carers if needed) for as long as possible. Does she have any rights?

Get them to have a serious think about how the POA works.

Having lots of attorneys sounds kind and inclusive, however for finance - who is going to pay the bills? Will they all have to have a discussion each time?

For health, will they all have to be rounded up and agree? What if one of them is on holiday? Or lives far away so doesn't have a realistic picture of what is going on?

It is a lot easier to deal with one attorney than a group.

Oh, that's a good point, thank you! I will pass this on to her so she can think it all through!

Next of kin had no legal standing.

She needs to discuss POA with her husband and a solicitor urgently. If he is still in the early stages his capacity can be assessed and if he still has decision making capacity he can apply to change POA.

If not then the children have the decision making authority.

All that being said there will come a time when he will need significant levels of care and a nursing home will need to be considered.

Having all of them as attorneys could be a recipe for disaster.

If there is more than one attorney, you can set it up two ways -

Jointly and severally - so any single attorney can act on their own, so one could make a decision/take an action and then another could reverse it. Or one attorney could make a decision without informing the others.

Or jointly - so every attorney has to agree with every action. Which could be equally troublesome because everything grinds to a halt until agreement is reached.

There are also two types of POA, financial and health/welfare.

They need to think very carefully about how they want to set them up, and the potential consequences.

Well, things have rather kicked off since I posted!

My aunty's husband told his sons that he wanted a new POA which would include his wife (my aunty) and they've told him that they've consulted a solicitor and that a) legally he needs to be of working age in order to be POA (which I don't think sounds right) and b) that if wanted a new POA, he'd need to be the main POA and would have to add the sons as 'add ons' which would lead to 'mounds of paperwork'.

My poor aunt is caught in the middle but none of this sounds right to us! I think we might need to get legal advice of our own. All my aunt is asking for is a say in her husband's care and treatment.

Absolute bullshit and I think confirming that the sons were not going to act in his best interests but theirs.

None of that is correct. Your aunt's husband needs to see his own solicitor, and ask about drawing up a new POA. I don't know why the sons would care about 'mounds of paperwork' - it is the donor (aunt's husband) who has to organise it, all they have to do is read it and sign their names.

It seems clear that it will not work to have the sons and aunt working together as attorneys, so your aunt's husband needs to decide how he wants to go forward.

He needs to see his own solicitor with your aunt. Also read the guide Age UK have on their web site. Your aunts DH can name deputies. As my mother has. So if it’s not me, because I’m incapacitated, it’s one of my sisters. DH could name wife and then DS if she’s not capable. I’d do this very quickly now.

Your aunt is in a vulnerable position. People with later stages of dementia might well need care in a home. DS might never agree! So your aunt might be caring for DH when her health might not be great. She needs to understand she’s in a difficult position and persuade DH to sort this out. Which he can - very easily. Also consider the money element too. He should get her as Attorney for money too. Otherwise DS might try and take over. What he’s said about this is untrue.