Power of attorney – what happens when it’s abused?
Granting power of attorney gives peace of mind to millions, but some vulnerable people are being exploited.
Granting power of attorney gives peace of mind to millions, but some vulnerable people are being exploited.
Anita* was always close to her mother. They lived a ten-minute walk from each other, took their holidays together, and when Anita was a single parent for a few years, her mum was very hands-on with bringing up her two grandsons.
Yet for the past ten years Anita has been fighting even to visit her mother for short periods in her care home. “I’ve been to our local authority, I’ve enlisted a lawyer, a social worker, I’ve seen my MP,” she says.
“Sometimes I think, ‘Where have ten years gone? I’ve not done enough.’ But I’ve never stopped trying to see my mum.”
The closeness enjoyed by mother and daughter ended abruptly a decade ago, following the death of Anita’s father and her mother’s diagnosis of dementia, aged just 72.
At this point, Anita’s only sibling, her brother who lived abroad, returned to sort through family affairs. “He hadn’t been part of our lives for a long time but took full control,” she says. “I’ve been in the dark ever since.”
Without her knowledge, Anita’s brother set up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), registering himself as his mother’s attorney. He bought his parents’ home, then sold it, moving their mum to a care home. He then returned to live abroad.
“I was really shocked and Mum was very upset as it was too soon,” says Anita. “She didn’t need that level of care. She told me that my brother had promised it was only to see if she liked it.”
Still, Anita and her adult sons visited regularly, taking her out for coffee and shopping.
Five months later, though, Anita was informed by email that they were no longer allowed. Her brother claimed it was too disturbing for their mother. Care home staff explained that his LPA gave them no choice but to enforce his wishes.
“I’ve been fighting this ever since,” says Anita. “It’s draining, it destroys you. At times you think you’ve got somewhere, then you hit a wall. You cry and you’re broken but you start again.”
In 2016, an investigation led by her local authority confirmed in writing that Anita’s mum was twice asked by a social worker if she wanted to see her daughter, and both times her face lit up and she said yes.
Somehow, though, the ban remained in place. Her brother’s LPA trumped all.
This story was told in parliament, alongside others that were equally distressing, by MP Fabian Hamilton, who has made it his mission to tackle the glaring problems surrounding LPAs.
These are exceptionally powerful documents, allowing the registered attorney (or attorneys) to manage the donor’s entire life – pay their bills, access their bank accounts, sell their property, make crucial decisions around where they live, who they see and the care they receive.
In the vast majority of cases, LPAs work well and are trouble-free, giving the donor peace of mind, knowing that, should they ever lose capacity, their affairs will be handled by someone they trust.
However, Hamilton has been contacted by hundreds of families whose lives have been torn apart by the abuse of an LPA. “In one case, an elderly woman awarded an LPA to her lodger of several years,” he says. “Within days, he had stolen all her money and disappeared.”
Hamilton believes that our ageing population and the rising number of people with dementia, many of whom are homeowners, have left the system wide open to abuse.
Almost anyone can become someone’s attorney, largely under the radar – even someone with a criminal conviction or history of fraud.
Once registered, there is a short window in which others can object. After this, any challenge is expensive, complex and may involve court proceedings. Anita feels strongly that families should be made aware of LPAs as and when they happen.
“When you want an extension on your house, you have to notify your neighbours and make sure there are no objections,” Anita says. “An LPA should be drawn up like this. Family should be consulted. There’s more safeguarding for a shared wall than a human being.”
“There are about eight million Powers of Attorney registered across the country,” says Hamilton. “My guess is that 0.5% are abused but even if it’s only 0.1%, that’s still an awful lot of impacted families.”
According to Hamilton, the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), which oversees Powers of Attorney, is under-resourced and ill-equipped to monitor or investigate cases.
“The OPG’s mission statement is about breaking even financially with no cost to the taxpayer,” he says. “We need a complete change of ethos where the priority is safeguarding vulnerable people.”
Hamilton’s Powers of Attorney Bill, which passed the first hearing and awaits the second (likely to happen this autumn), carries various safeguards, including a public information campaign and a strict requirement that banks monitor attorney spending.
Care homes would also have to report all LPAs that are drawn up for residents and families should be able to learn of LPA appointments via a database.
BBC journalist Sue Mitchell, whose powerful Radio 4 series The Willpower Detectives focuses on the abuse of LPAs, can attest to the huge number whose lives have been devastated. “The response has been unbelievable,” she says. “I get emails every day with absolutely harrowing stories.
“Loneliness and cognitive decline have made people easy prey, and anyone can step into that void – a carer, a neighbour, a gardener, a distant relative.
“Others revolve around one difficult family member. It might be sibling rivalry, jealousy, greed or narcissism but someone has used an LPA to take complete control. In most cases, families haven’t been able to initiate any kind of investigation.”
John Wilcox, whose story features in Mitchell’s series, was only released from an abusive LPA because his family took drastic measures to “rescue” him.
John, a wealthy and successful businessman, had been married to Barbara for 40 years when he was diagnosed with vascular dementia. His health deteriorated, he became increasingly paranoid and delusional, and in November 2020 he collapsed and was admitted to a hospital near his home in the Wye Valley.
This was during the second wave of Covid and no visitors were allowed. During this fraught period, when John must have felt confused and abandoned, his adult granddaughter Amy somehow won his trust by phone.
As a result, she was able to have him discharged into her care, 100 miles away in Torquay. Once there, she registered herself and a local solicitor as John’s attorneys and changed his will to make herself sole beneficiary. She checked John into a Devon hotel room where he lived alone in a state of mess and chaos.
John’s wife and his brother Desmond – in fact John’s whole family, including Amy’s parents and sister – were frantic with worry.
“The police would only tell us John was safe and well but wouldn’t tell us where he was,” says Desmond, his voice cracking. “John was my big brother – nine years older than me. All my life, we had a wonderful relationship. Until this.”
It took John’s family seven months to locate him and bring him back. They recorded all of it and it makes the episode an extremely emotional listen. The moment that John sees his wife in that filthy hotel room, he exclaims a happy, “Good morning, Mrs Wilcox!”
He lived for another nine months, comfortably, cared for by Barbara and died surrounded by family. Amy’s LPA and the changes to the will were revoked. She is no longer in contact with any family members. When approached by Saga Magazine, Amy did not wish to give a statement.
“So many people are unaware that this could happen,” says Barbara. “It needs to be in the public domain and the rules have to be tightened.”
After much pushing from Desmond for some form of punishment to be meted out, Amy was eventually given a police caution because she had withdrawn a sum of money from John’s account after he had returned home.
Earlier this year, Anita also achieved a breakthrough. Her brother relented a little and allowed her to visit her mother again.
“She can’t speak any more, the dementia has really taken hold, but she is alert and she still loves being hugged,” Anita says. “The staff say she definitely knows me. They say she acts differently towards me than she does to anyone else. I broke down in tears when they told me that.”
But because of the LPA, her brother still holds all control. After seven weeks of unlimited visits, he began imposing new limits. Now Anita is only allowed three weekly visits, each for a maximum of 30 minutes.
“I have to arrive, clock in, race upstairs to find Mum and clock out in half an hour, so sometimes we only have 20 minutes together,” she says.
Anita is also in touch with a safeguarding advocacy group, which is taking up her case. “They’ve told me that they have other cases like this, but most people give up after this long. I won’t give up – I can’t. But I don’t know how much time we have left.”
(*Name has been changed)
Image credit: Stephan Schmitz
Lasting Powers of Attorney give someone the power to manage your affairs should you lose the capacity to do so yourself.
A Property and Financial Affairs LPA gives the attorney the power to manage your finances and property. A Health and Welfare LPA covers decisions around medical care, life sustaining treatment, moving into a care home and many aspects of daily care.
An attorney might be a spouse, friend or other family member or a professional. You can have more than one – in fact, that is often recommended in order to reduce the potential for abuse.
LPAs can be set up online through the government website. It costs £82 to register each LPA. Many people prefer to use a solicitor, so that they know it has been done correctly. Fees for this will vary.
Setting up an LPA while you are able to make decisions is important – it means your affairs will be handled by someone you trust if the need arises. If there is no LPA, it will not automatically be granted to anyone – not even a spouse.
Instead, family members may need to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed a “deputy” – this can be costly and time consuming.
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