Judges warning about Power of Attorney

It is illegal to use assets for anything except the benefit of the person who has given power of Attourney. So other relatives do have a route to question what is happening and the comeback is imprisonment if this has happened. Difficult for those who only have that one person, I agree. But there is no protection or comeback for solicitors fees under the Court of Protection. They can charge whatever they like and can drain assets in no time at all.

It would also make it more difficult for relatives to act as executors after the person dies. If someone has already been handling the person's finances, it's relatively straightforward to continue this responsibility after their death. I'm speaking from personal experience here; at least then the executors know where and what all the assets are, how the bills are paid, whether any debts are outstanding, etc.

I have heard of more than one case where relatives strongly suspect that another relative/friend/neighbour who is an attorney, is helping themselves to money.
But because they obviously don't have access to the person's bank or savings accounts they can't prove it, and when they've approached social services or the police, they have been reluctant to do anything with no proof.

Maybe there is a more reliable route in such cases - where action can be taken very quickly to stop the abuse, but from all I've heard it can be very difficult and take a long time. And in the meantime the attorney is still draining the funds.

Yes, you need to be sure you can trust your attorney(s). I trust mine, and as my estate is mostly going to them, there's nothing for anyone else to get nosey about.

If you suspect that an Attourney is using money improperly you report them to the Office of the Public Guardan. This is where they can act but only if a POA is in place.