Last updated on January 11th, 2024 at 10:38 am

 

Senior Judge Lush heard the case in which the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) requested the revocation of a property and financial affairs LPA of an elderly lady (Ms A) whose attorney (her daughter) was not spending her mother’s money wisely.

Family members had LPA responsibilities

Ms A lived in a care home and had two LPAs:  a property and financial affairs LPA and a health and welfare LPA.  Attorneys for the latter were Ms A’s son, his wife and their children. Ms A’s daughter and a grandson from a deceased son were originally attorneys for the property and financial affairs LPA.  However, following an investigation by the OPG, the grandson was removed shortly after the LPA was set up as he lacked to capacity to act as an attorney.

Ms A’s estate was modest: she owned half of a fairly low value property and had  little savings, with her only income being benefits and state pension – most of which was earmarked for bills each month.

Difficult family relationships

Ms A’s son and daughter appeared to be at loggerheads over their mother’s care.  Care home managers reported them as being a ‘nightmare’, constantly rowing, not accepting the judgment of staff and even getting into physical conflict.  At one point the daughter even made a complaint to the OPG regarding her brother’s actions under the health and welfare LPA, but then withdrew it saying it was “purely a family matter”.

Daughter fails to use funds in best interests of donor

Eventually, in March this Year, the OPG requested that the daughter accounted for the dealings with her mother’s financial affairs and the judge filed an order for the same.    After making complaints about the request the daughter eventually provided documents that showed that she was spending more than her mother’s actual income each month.  Some of the expenditure appeared to be on items that the judge, care home managers and the OPG thought were unnecessary, such as:

• Buying her mother food she used to enjoy eating, such as cakes, sausage rolls and pork pie.
• Unnecessary clothing.
• Excessive amounts on the upkeep of a bungalow that Ms A owned jointly with her grandson (former co-attorney) , who did not live in it.
• Failing to utilise the property to raise funds, such as renting it out.

Accepting that Ms A was incapable of revoking the LPA herself, he revoked the same, making the OPG the attorney and Ms A’s daughter the deputy, leaving the daughter with some say in her mother’s care, but no overall control of the finances.

Ensure attorney responsibility is fully understood

When creating an LPA you need to be sure that you trust your chosen attorney/s, and that they have the time and competence to deal with matters correctly.  In this case, there was no suggestion that Ms A didn’t trust her daughter, but the judge clearly thought that she did not really have a grip on her responsibilities.

When accepting the responsibility as an attorney in an LPA, it is vital that you understand what your role and duties will entail and that they are carried out properly.

If you are an attorney and need help and advice, or you wish to establish an LPA and need advice on choosing an attorney please contact our specialists now.

You can find out more about LPAs by reading our website pages.