HI folks,
My Mum has Vascular dementia after a stroke and no longer has mental capacity. No POA is in place so we would need Court of Protection application for us to control finances. This may take some months to get. If we need to pay for home care in the interim how does this work. We don’t really know what assets she has so at this point would struggle to provide info for means test. How do we pay for care from her accounts? Will the LA rack up a bill that we can pay once we have access to her assets. Can we retrospectively prove assets and get a refund of any care paid for under the means test limits? Do the LA ever apply to the Court of Protection and appoint their own deputy.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Mark
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Who can make decisions when someone loses mental capacity and there’s no power of attorney?
The council has a duty to meet Assessed Needs, regardless. Do NOT use any of your own money.
However, before going down the Court of Protection route, it may not be neccessary.
You can immediately apply to become mum’s DWP “Appointee”, easy to claim unless you have a criminal record and are seen as an unfit person!
This then means you can manage all mum’s benefits for her.
Is mum claiming Attendance Allowance (assuming she is a pensioner?)
As she has dementia, did you know that she is EXEMPT from Council Tax, and that any claim for exemption can lead to a refund. The highest amount so far is £8,000!
Does mum own or rent her home?
There must be some bank statements around the house, utility bills etc. etc.
Bring together all the financial records you can find, and go through them.
Get a lever arch file, some Mylar dividers, and some polythene sleeves.
Put all the gas bills together, sort them in date order, staple them together, one staple for each year, and put them in a polythene sleeve.
If you know mum’s bank, most people would, go and talk to the bank and explain the situation. Until mum’s legal situation is sorted, they should be very careful about any withdrawals being made on the account. (When you are appointee, you need to set up a separate account).
Feel free to ask anything, someone here will be able to point you in the right direction. Forum members advice comes from their own experience, but CUK has a helpline where you can discuss actual figures etc. in confidence.
Thanks folks. Bowlingbun She owns the house. Interesting about council tax.
Yes, it’s a “best kept secret” but as it’s not means tested and can be backdated, well worth pursuing. Just ask the council for a claim form concerning SMI - Severe Mental Impairment. They’ll send you a form to send to mum’s doctor, to be returned directly to them. It CAN be backdated, to the day dementia was diagnosed or the SMI apparent. If they say it can’t, tell them they are wrong!!
Is mum getting Attendance Allowance? Again, non means tested.