My daughter will be turning 16 soon and I need to act on her behalf in respect of finances and benefits. I'm not sure how i become her advocate. Lasting power of attorney has been mentioned but also Court of Protection Deputyship. I would be grateful of any advice.
Hi I am not sure if I am able to advise you, maybe contact the Mencap helpline on 0808 808 1111 and they might be able to put you intouch with some of our services we offer. Hope that's helpful.
Thankyou, I will give them a call.
Hi chilledjoy, re the lasting power of attourney, it's for those aged 18 and above, the individual can nominate you to be their attourney for financial affairs and also health affairs if applicable. As long as the individual is able to consent (basically sign the form) and you can get someone re teacher, day centre manager, nurse to countersign the form it can be done online at gov.uk. you complete the form online, print it off and get it signed and then send it to be registered which can take up to 3 months. If you're employed there is a small fee less than £100. I did it for my own son and it's very straightforward. Hope this helps.
Because she's under 18 I've been advised that it is in fact a court of protection deputyship that applies, but thanks so much for taking the time to respond to my query.
Hello Childjoy and welcome to this place lots of people go through the same problem.
I am an Appointee for benefits which is just right for us.Someone will come and explain how it works but basically one person is allowed to get benefits paid into a bank account which should be separate to your own.
If your daughter has a lot of money then Court of Protection will appoint you as a deputy for finances.This costs about £400 .
good luck and if you need more answers then come back.
You say that someone will come and explain how it works, who would that be? I'm in the process of completing forms COP1, COP3, COP1a but I could do with a little help.
Hello Chilledjoy
When you apply for benefits for example Employment Support Allowance the person from the benefits office will come along to set you up as an Appointee however the ESA is only for people that cant work at this time.I think your daughter might be too young to start claiming!
You report that you are completing the COP forms.
I was going to do that and I am sure you noticed it is £400 for finance part and £400 for health part.and you would need to ask someone to assess your daughters "mental capacity". This is because you are claiming that she cant handle her own finaces.
I had an appointment to do this with my son's GP but that also would cost £100 .
I thought very carefully and cancelled everything because the only finances my son has are his benefits and if he accumulates too much money£6000 then this will affect his ESA payments.
If you need help with COP forms they advise you to phone and speak with them.The benefits officer will only explain about becoming an appointee.If you read the forms for COP you will notice that you have to send in invoices and bank statements each year for everything going into and out of her bank accounts.There are I think ongoing payments each year to the Court of Protection.
The only reason I was applying to be a Deputy was so that I could buy Premium Bonds in my son's name. Later I discovered that if I had invested more than £6000 in premium bonds this will affect his benefits.
I hope that helps a bit
charlie
You will need to become her appointee for benefits. I’m sure the department of work and pensions contacted me at this time but if not contact them and they’ll do an assessment. Power of attorney and deputyship are slightly different. These are for after 18. Power of attorney is for those that have mental capacity and deputyship is for those that don’t. There are two parts health and financial. If it’s just benefits you need to deal with appointeeship is ample.
Thankyou. It will be for benefits, she has an ISA which I contribute to which is fixed until she is 18 so until she reaches 18 I think I can be an appointee.
Definitely all that’s needed. My son is 21 and we’ve not needed deputyship yet but now he’s in a residential college we will go for health and welfare deputyship. It’s not been necessary until now but I’m struggling with not having any say in medical care anymore. X
I would like to thank everyone for their help and advice. It was a little daunting when I received conflicting information initially but now, thanks to you all I know what I need to do.
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