Norman first heard about power of attorney eight years ago at a local event run by social services which was promoting it.
He first got a lasting power of attorney (LPA) – both for health & welfare and property & financial affairs – for his Mum. He did this before she became ill with dementia, but Norman says it gave him legal rights both before – in the case of property and financial affairs – and after, when she lost capacity. He says that without power of attorney “people would have been able to push us around” and it gave him the ability to “speak on her behalf”.
Norman also found that having a health and welfare LPA gave him a “right to be consulted”, after his Mum had lost capacity, and thought having it in place indicated to professionals that they had the right planning in place.
It gave me a sense of comfort”.
Norman’s advice to other carers would be to “go and get power of attorney as early as you feel comfortable.”
When obtaining power of attorney for his wife Roz, professionals gave different opinions on whether Rozy had the capacity to sign.
Ultimately, it was decided by a solicitor that she did have capacity to sign, but Norman worries that if the decision had been made the other way they would have left it too late. Roz’s power of attorney was useful both for answering immediate questions about her affairs and care, and for setting out what she wanted going forward.
Norman emphasises the importance of having multiple attorneys in place: “go early, go wide.” He says that this ensures that if something happens to one person, there will be backups who are able to act independently. Both his son and daughter function as attorneys for him. He also highlights the importance of updating your power of attorney regularly in case anything changes.
He has power of attorney in place for himself and has spoken extensively to his son and daughter about preparing and planning if anything were to happen to him. His advice for other carers? “Talk about it while they are still well, not when they are frightened”.