David and his wife Jean were 73, they DID consider making ‘Lasting Powers of Attorney’ (LPAs) but wrongly concluded that they were only for old people with DEMENTIA, and would leave it for now. ‘This is what happened’ David had a serious stroke in 2010 and although he eventually left hospital to live at home, he had lost his capacity as defined by the 2005 Mental Capacity Act and could not make financial decisions. Jean, desperate for money to raise funds to reorganise the house and pay for David’s carers made enquiries about EQUITY RELEASE but was horrified to find out that as she and David owned the house jointly, David was not allowed to sign because of his condition and Jean could not sign for David because there were no LPA’s in place and Jean’s only option was to apply to the ‘Court of Protection’ to get permission to obtain the equity release, the legal costs & fees were nearly £3,000 and it took 18 months to sort out. David died in 2019, and in those 9 years, apart from the ongoing intrusion and bureaucracy of the ‘Court of Protection’ Jean had spent in the region of £18,000 in various fees and costs obtaining and maintaining the ‘Deputyship Order’.  

DAY 1: David aged 58 has multiple strokes and family told he will never recover. DAY  9:  All bank  accounts  with  David’s Name  on  are ‘frozen’ including the joint account, his wife Fiona is unable to sign on David’s behalf. DAY 10: Fiona  needs  to  make  an  application to  the  ‘Court  of  Protection’ but must borrow money from her son as their joint bank account is frozen, the total cost of this application is between £2,000 &  £3,000. DAY  14:  Fiona  must  establish  a  new  bank account  in  her  own  name  to receive her personal pension that was previously paid into the frozen joint account. DAY 30: Due to David’s physical situation there is an urgent need to move to a bungalow,  but  this  cannot  happen  as  Fiona  is  unable  to sign  for  her husband, so she will have to wait for the ‘Court of Protection’s decision on her application. DAY 116: The ‘Court of Protection’  makes  its ruling, Fiona will be  made ‘deputy’ but firstly she must take out a bond to protect her own husband’s assets against her mismanagement, cost £550 each year. Day  118:  ‘Court  of  Protection’  tells  Fiona how  much  she  can  write out  a  cheque  for, Fiona must keep  detailed accounts and make regular reports to the Court there will be more fees for different reports with an average estimated cost at up to £1,500 each year. FACT:  All   of  this  will   go  on   day   in and  day   out,  every   month of  every  year until  Fiona’s husband David dies. If Fiona and David  had  made  Lasting  Powers  of Attorney, they could  have  avoided  all  the stress, intrusion & bureaucracy created by the ‘Court  of  Protection’ but  time  and  time again they  put  off  deciding  until  David  was struck  down  and  the  decision  was taken away from them. This is happening in thousands of homes in England today.

‘Here is an example’ Peter aged 81 has late-stage Alzheimer’s, his family cannot look after him, so he lives in a nursing home. Then Peter is diagnosed with a brain tumour, of course he is unaware of this as he lacks the capacity to understand. Peter had always said to his family that if ever he had cancer he never wanted to any serious operation or chemotherapy. But because Peter had not made a ‘Health and Welfare’ Lasting Power of Attorney the people in charge of his care decided against the pleas of Peter’s family and gave the hospital the permission to operate on Peter’s brain, remove the tumour. It saved Peter’s life, but he lived on for a miserable 4 years, further debilitated by the surgery, weakened by the chemotherapy and when he died he was completely confused and in a near vegetative state!  If Peter had made a ‘Health and Welfare’ Lasting Power of Attorney appointing his wife and daughters as his attorneys they would have had the ‘power to refuse’ the lifesaving treatment that Peter had, which would have allowed Peter to die peacefully.