Power of Attorney query

[WWEDave]

So I have a daughter who is Autistic, my wife and I are going to apply for Power of Attorney because she is soon to be 18 and well making decisions are difficult for her etc ... Does anyone have any experiences with this ??

[Jofisher]

Hi Yes I do my son lacks capacity so I have a deputyship with his sister as well, I am also a power of attorney for three people as well. If your daughter has capacity and can have full understanding of what she’s agreeing to then that’s great but if not it should be a deputyship you will need to have a mental capacity assessment done possible so speak to her Gp or consultant or social worker whoever she’s under they can advise you. I had to apply for deputyship first for property and finance but I wanted the health and well-being one more importantly and I was awarded both don’t be put off by being told you want get it keep going. Good luck if you have any other questions do ask I applied online on the gov.U.K. Website and you can call court of protection for advice or office of public guardian.

[AES71]

We applied for PoAs for my daughter. She had to have an assessment first to check mental capacity (hers was done by Social Worker Asst as we had a nightmare getting anyone to do this).From there was quite straightforward- applied ourselves as saves a fortune. Unfortunately it was at peak of first lockdown so any queries took forever to resolve but all sorted now.

Good luck with it all.

[Blackhouse]

With regard to costs - we live in Scotland and took out legal guardianship for our daughter on her 16th birthday. As she has a lot of health issues we didn't want to wait till she left school and paid all costs (approx £650 in 2016). We dealt with a lawyer, gp and social work.If your daughter is on any unemployment benefit and has little or no savings then all fees should be covered by legal aid. If she is still at school and dependant on you for income then you will be responsible for costs.