P of A

That is a very interesting question. In the main those with PofA have agreed and been given the power to take decisions if/when the need arises; I do not know whether it is also a legal obligation. Let me know if you find out the answer please.

I’m interested too. Is this a case where the person holding the POA has their own issues, maybe stress or physical health problems? I had assumed a legal obligation but maybe not.

If the attourney is I longer able or wiling to act the Court of Protection takes responsibility, as it would if there was no POA.

Thanks eglantine. Do you know if the same applies in Scotland?
Will check on Court of Protection.

Having looked very quickly it seems that in Scotland there are guardianship and intervention orders which I assume might be granted by the court to the relevant authorities. This seems to be the case when the person holding PoA is 'unable or unwilling' to carry out the duties involved.
It would seem then that the daughter can walk away, effectively handing over care decisions to the SW department.

Sorry, only know what the guidance was in the pack when I did my POA.

Is there only one 'attorney'?

Somewhere at the back of my mind I have a feeling there may be costs involved if the Court of Protection steps in. I may be (probably am) wrong. As an only child I can completely empathise and sympathise with Daughter having been in a similar situation and having come very, very close to walking away. Can father’s GP help? Would a letter from daughter’s GP to SS give a temporary reprieve and get them to be more pro-active?

The legal system grinds exceedingly slow and father may well have died by the time things actually move forward. (I sometimes suspect that may be the aim, but that can’t be true. Can it?!)

GP, SS and hospital consultant are all in agreement that father is in urgent need of 24 hour care. SS have provided superb support.
Daughter is the only child, only living relative and sole attorney.
I was wondering if SS could take over automatically in the absence of daughter's involvement and it was only after Eglantine's post that I realised that courts might be involved. That's the first time I'd read of guardianship and intervention orders.
I'll follow that up today.

I had P of A for my Mum, and as far as I remember it meant I was able to sign on her behalf, including banking.
If there had been a legal obligation I would have thought there would be a penalty included for failure to act.

I think doctors and SS can oblige Father to go into care if he’s a danger to himself and or/others - if he’s likely to burn the house down or become violent to a carer. Otherwise, if all are agreed, 24 hour care can be provided at home (theoretically) can’t it?

My father was induced to go into care for respite. Just two weeks. To build him up and get him right. At the end of two weeks he just stayed on. It was another week or two before he realised he’d been there longer and by then he was reasonably settled.

If there was no one to take care of or act for the Father then ss would have an obligation to step in.

The best thing to do is go to CAB and ask for advice. I am pretty sure that in a case like this the Court of Protection would take over and SS are the people to get the ball rolling.

This is why it is better to have more than one person having LPA, in my case I have three.

mcem- I hope you have found the answers to your questions. I would suggest, as you are in Scotland, asking either the nearest sheriff's court or the registrar if they can clarify the situation for you.

It depends which PoA she has. One deals with financial matters and there is another one which deals with health issues.

When I completed the POA form it advised strongly to name a substitute just in case of situations like this. Now that the daughter does not want to do it, whoever takes over will have to go to court and it costs unfortunately. You need professional advise on this now. For anyone out there thinking of doing a POA on the Martin Lewis website, it’s half price for this month so we’ll worth thinking about.

Firstly, a person deemed as vulnerable CAN be taken into care against their wishes, if they lack mental capacity, for their own sake or to protect others. Secondly, an Attorney (the daughter) is obliged to act in the best interests of the person for who she has the PoA, and not for herself. If she goes against the advice of professionals involved, then the Court of Protection could get involved. She can resign as Attorney, but, if there is no other Attorney named, then the Office of the Public Guardian will take over, and it will be VERY expensive. Being an Attorney for someone means you need to handle their affairs (either Health and Welfare or Property and Affairs, or usually both) but it doesn't mean that you actually have to physically look after them. You say there are no other relatives, but can someone give the daughter a bit of support to carry on her duties as Attorney? If not, then approach the local Carers' Association or the Alzheimer's Society (if dementia is the problem) to find a way through this sad situation. Having had PoA for late husband, and now for father, I know it can be very time-consuming and onerous, quite apart from the emotional component. Good luck!

My aunt aged 94 had Alzheimer's and couldn't do anything for herself. She had no children. I lived 30 miles away, was working full time and a single mum and I only visited weekly.
She refused to leave her home for 10 years so was never agreeing to going in to care.
Social Services provided care 3 times a day but I had to contribute out of her disability pension.

PoA are about financial dealings.
There is otherwise nothing between being sectioned or people making their own decisions.
There have been several court cases where Councils have gone to court to argue that it is better for people to go into care and they have always lost because adults have the right to make their own decisions.

Yeah she can pull out. The father will become directly the responsibility of the Court of Protection. Not a problem. Then the court will try and get a family member to act as the direct liaison to see to the day to day business of the father, if someone is willing to do that. Otherwise they'll get some sort of social worker to do it.

If daughter has pulled out then there needs to be a best interests decision made between social worker, care staff, medics etc - whoever is relevant for the decision. And fathers views should be sought as far as possible for each decision . Only if there was a disagreement would a decision have to go to the court of protection - although I don’t know how she relinquishes PoA.

Jaycee - no - there are health and welfare decisions as well and many have PoA for that. If someone has already lost capacity then the court either appoint a deputy - or more usually for health and welfare decisions are made at best interests meetings - not involving a court.

My son has never had capacity - we don’t (yet) have health and welfare deputyship (hope to get it although they’re not easy to get) - so decisions ranging from who can see his records, whether he has sedation for bloods, when he has bloods, where he lives, whether I am allowed to video him are all made as best interests decisions