Lasting Power Of Attorney

[MissTerious]

I'm looking for advice.

I have a good friend in a care home. She is suffering from dementia but it has not reached the stage where she can't make decisions. She has granted her daughter LPOA and the right to make decisions and take care of finance.

Her daughter now has been in hospital for a few months in a very serious and life threatening condition. It is known that any recovery will take a very long time.
My friend has been protected from this news. She knows her daughter is ill but not the severity of the situation. The daughters partner visits her mother in the care home and seems to have taken over financial duties too, basically out of kindness

All other relatives are worried about this but live far away. I phone or visit my friend regularly but can't get involved.

Should this be allowed legally. Who should be advised if an attorney cannot fulfil their duties. Would it be the solicitor who dealt with granting POA? And would that mean my friend would have to be aware of how seriously ill her daughter is. She has no other named attorney.

[MissTerious]

I am the only other person she has now or keeps in touch.

[Barmaid]

While your friend has capacity, only she can make the decision whether to allow daughter's partner to take over. If she didn't have capacity it could be reported to the Office of the Public Guardian and they would take action through the Court of Protection. The CoP only has jurisdiction if someone does not have capacity.

Unfortunately, your friend probably ought to be told of the position, since she ought to be allowed to make the decision as to whom ought to deal with her finances in the absence of her daughter.

The OPG might be helpful in these circumstances.

[wolf63]

Are you a friend of BM on FB?

[wolf63]

ignore that - she beat me to it.

[MissTerious]

.....Apart from her distant family who are very elderly an very worried.

[MissTerious]

No Wolf, not on Facebook.

[Barmaid]

Is one way of dealing with this to suggest that as her daughter has been poorly, perhaps to take the worry off her, she revokes the LPA and appoints someone else - such as a local solicitor?

[MissTerious]

Barmaid. Thanks. You have said what I hoped you would. My friend needs to know about the situation. I keep telling the family this. I don't think it's my place to tell her. I have no contact with the daughter or her partner. Basically the daughter was not in her parents life until she had to be found when her father died and her Mum was ill and taken into care.

[MissTerious]

Daughter rarely visited her mother in hospital or in care. There's a huge rift.

[MissTerious]

In fact she's been neglected. It's her family and myself who have kept her going. Daughters partner seems to care more and is visiting her regularly.

[MissTerious]

If I was healthier and younger I would have offered. In fact before her daughter was found she did ask me if I would. But no way can I do that.

[MissTerious]

Thanks again Barmaid. Xx

[twix123]

As I'm not legally qualified, I wonder if Barmaid can confirm if the daughter's partner could be held liable for making financial decisions on your friends behalf if he is not named under the PoA?

[MissTerious]

That's part of the problem Twix. It may be that my friend may have given the partner permission and that would be OK. She still has mental capacity to make her own decisions.