POA for abusive man (trigger warning SA)

[VibeVanguard]

I’m in a difficult situation:

my father has bi polar and dementia. Last year he was sectioned and then placed in a care home.

I have power of attorney - which I signed years ago, not really knowing what it entailed.

I have been NC with him for about 15 years and have felt so much better for it. TRIGGER WARNING
.
.
.

He was an abusive alcoholic throughout my childhood and teens. Abused me and my cousin.

when my father went into the care home, his social worker called to hand over responsibility to me. I now manage his financial estate, clear his home, cancel all his bills, get rid of his possessions etc.

I’ve been doing this slowly over the last year, and it’s taking a toll on my health. while I am slowly ploughing through it all, I’ve made mistakes, forgot to tell the council he’d moved, resulting in fines.

There’s so much admin. All of which I’m struggling with because I resent being left to deal with all of this on my own (I have one sibling who has schizophrenia so is not able to help)

on to my question: I’m aware I can charge for my time as a POA.

How much is it reasonable to charge to sort out a financial estate?

Including house clearance, selling house, selling cars etc. plus all the POA admin stuff.

I was thinking I’d charge my usual hourly rate, which is £65 per hour, but I work in a totally unrelated field. Is this reasonable?

arghh! And thanks in advance for any kindness or considered advice

Unless the POA specifies you can be paid, a lay attorney can't receive payment, only professional attorneys can be paid for their time

You can, however relinquish your powers and passing on to a professionsl

www.gov.uk/enduring-power-attorney-duties/payment-and-expenses#:~:text=Unless%20you're%20a%20professional,paid%20for%20being%20someone's%20attorney.

Unless you’re a professional attorney, you can only claim expenses for things you must do to carry out your role as an attorney. Charging an hourly fee would be prohibited.

You can relinquish your position by sending a notification form to the Office of the Public Guardian. Arrangements would then be made for a professional attorney to be appointed for your father.

To clarify, by claiming expenses, that would be e.g. paying a house clearance company to clear his property, or an accountant to sort out his finances, or any bills / payments you have to make on behalf of his estate. You can’t claim for your own time.

I feel for you OP.
The elderly almost always seem to the painted as sweet old dears we that a duty to care for. Often they've been nasty fuckers all their life and continue to be so. Another thing I've noticed, the welfare of younger family members is a complete and utter irrelevance. The elderly person is the ONLY person that matters.
Good luck relinquishing POA, expect push back and guilt tripping from everyone though.

You don't have to take on the responsibility Just tell SS you're no longer doing it.

@Gingernaut @ComtesseDeSpair thanks so much for the information. It's really helpful.

I'm kinda a bit gutted though. Wish I'd posted here at the beginning of all of this and saved myself hours of work!!

@Kendodd thanks for the support.
Luckily there's only me and my bro and my mum, who are all of the same opinion. They will be supportive.