Managing your money

Appointing a Lasting Power of Attorney gives you more control over what happens to you if you have an accident, illness, or lose the mental capacity to make your own decisions.

A Lasting Power of Attorney gives someone else, who is then known as your “attorney”, authority to act on your behalf and make decisions about your finances and / or your health and to manage your affairs. The Lasting Power of Attorney must be registered with the Office of The Public Guardian to be valid.

Who can be my Attorney?

Anybody who has mental capacity can be your attorney, but you should choose someone you can trust. You should be aware that a Power of Attorney is a powerful document and could allow whoever you have chosen unrestricted access to your finances. In some cases an attorney is able to make decisions about your health and welfare too.

How do I make a Lasting Power of Attorney?

A Lasting Power of Attorney must be made on the proper form which is available from the Office of the Public Guardian or on the Government website. You can make an application online or use a solicitor or law stationer’s. You can get more information from the Office of the Public Guardian.

What happens if I cannot manage my affairs and I do not have a Lasting Power of Attorney/ Enduring Power of Attorney?

If you have not appointed someone to act for you with a lasting power of attorney and you lose your mental capacity, an application has to be made to the Court of Protection for your representative to be appointed as a deputy. Deputyship can be a lengthy and costly process, we would advise that you consider a Lasting Power of Attorney as soon as possible.

What is an Appointee?

An Appointee is a person who has been appointed by the Department of Work & Pensions to assist you in managing your affairs if you have state benefit income but no capital or property to administer. A person can apply for Appointee whilst waiting for an application to go through for Power of Attorney/Deputy if required.

Can the Council become an Appointee?

Yes, we can become an Appointee for a person who is in receipt of care services where they are incapable of managing their benefit income themselves and have no family or any other person close to them to support them. This appointment is made by the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) and is called a Corporate Appointeeship.

We can become an Appointee for a person who is in receipt of care services where they are:

• deemed not to have capacity to deal with their finances
• unable to manage their benefit income
• and there is no other close family member or suitable person able to take on this role

We will open an account in their name and manage any benefit income. We will make sure that the person receives the benefits they are entitled to. We will also work with the person to establish a budget for paying bills and to enable the person to make choices about personal expenditure.

What is Deputyship?

Deputyship gives someone else, who is known as your “Deputy” similar responsibilities to an attorney, Deputyship can be applied for through the Court of Protection by someone else who wishes to act on your behalf if you have lost capacity to make your own decisions and have no acting Lasting Power of Attorney in place.

Can the Council become a Deputy?

Yes, we can also become a Deputy for a person where appropriate. The Court of Protection will appoint a Deputyship, and this works in a similar way to an Appointeeship. The Order also permits us to look after people’s assets and income. Part 19 of the Court of Protection Rules 2007 sets out the fixed costs that may be claimed by public authorities acting in Court of Protection proceedings. These fixed costs are payable from a person’s account in line with this practice direction.

Is there a fee payable for Council Appointeeship & Deputyship services?

There is a charge per week for the appointee service, the rate of which is decided by whether the person lives in a residential or nursing home setting or in their own home. This is reviewed on an annual basis.

There are yearly costs associated with the management of a Deputyship order. Part 19 of the Court of Protection Rules 2007 sets out these fixed costs that may be claimed by us.