Q&A - Protecting older people from financial abuse
Q: My elderly Aunt appointed a close friend as her Attorney under an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA), to help her manage her affairs. Money is missing and we have confronted the friend who confessed and agreed to repay it. What would you suggest my Aunt does now?
A: If there is still a trusted co-Attorney named in the EPA under a joint and several appointment, the EPA could be left in place and the unsuitable Attorney removed. Otherwise, new Attorneys would have to be appointed under a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) following the introduction of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which made it impossible to create a new EPA.
The new law provides a framework to empower and protect vulnerable people who are not able to make their own decisions. It clarifies who can take decisions, in which situations, and how they should go about this. And it enables people to plan ahead for a time when they may lose capacity
Under an LPA your Aunt could appoint new Attorneys of her choice with the peace of mind that her personal welfare or property and finances were in safe hands should she become mentally incapable, with the additional safeguard of registration of the LPA at the Court of Protection. If your Aunt became mentally incapable and there was no LPA in place, however, it would be necessary to make an application to the Court of Protection for the appointment of a Deputy to deal with her finances. She would have no control over who was appointed and her finances would be scrutinised by the Court as part of the application – something not required when registering an LPA.
Law firms such as us who specialise in Elderly Client Services are usually happy to make home appointments, or visits to residential/ nursing homes, to see Clients who cannot attend their offices.
Further information relating to this question is available from Anthony Danvers, a Solicitor specialising in Elderly Client Services with GHP Legal, The Malthouse Business Centre, Llangollen, Tel: 01978 291456.
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