Guardianship?

[Mickyallsorts]

Hello,

My sister is late fifties and has learning difficulties. She does get out shopping etc but is vulnerable. As her younger brother, I am playing a more active role in supporting her as my parents are in their 80’s and cannot cope so well now.

My parents old school approach in not getting any support over the years because of the stigma back in the day means she is pretty much unknown to social services (or whoever it is that could have been helping).

I have had to deal with some pretty serious incidents over the past year and I can only imagine similar things have been happening but my parents have swept it under the carpet. I have been off raising my family and they didn’t want to bother me. Society has been so cruel and she really has been taken advantage of, makes me so mad how people can be.

Recently I have needed to get access to medical records to assist her with something serious and I am now in the process of trying to sort sheltered accommodation. All of this is an uphill struggle because she is classed as a fully functioning adult.

Anyway, does anyone know what the process is for me to be registered as her guardian (or alike). This would really help me support her better.

Would appreciate any help or advice.

M

[SpeedyH]

Hi there. I think there are two strands to your question, how to get support for your sister and how to be able to represent her, when necessary.Firstly, I think you should consider obtaining Power of Attorney for your sister. There are two routes to being able represent someone’s interest and which route you take depends on the extent of their ‘capacity’ or ability to understand that they are setting up a legal document that allows you to help them make decisions that they are not able to make themselves. If they have no real understanding, for example people with severe learning disabilities, the route is to apply to the Court of Protection to become their ‘deputy’ but it sounds like your sister has enough understanding so you could take out a Lasting Power of Attorney in order to be able to help her. This is the same process that we should go through to make sure there is someone who can make decisions on our behalf if we have an accident or when we get old. There are two types of Lasting Power of attorneys - Finance and Health/welfare - and I suggest you take out both. The finance one will enable you to help her with her bank account and sign contracts for housing etc on her behalf. The welfare one will help with getting medical records and dealing with social care. It is possible to apply for LPA online from the .gov website or if you can afford to, you could get a solicitor to do it for you. The forms are very straightforward but if there is any doubt about the extent of her capacity I would involve a solicitor. It takes quite a few months for applications to be processed.

You are correct, the route to extra help and support is Adult Social Care. Your sister should have a ‘Needs assessment’. You can ask for this to be face to face and you can insist that you are present if your sister says she is happy for you to be there. It is important that you are there. It is worth keeping a diary of all the incidents that have happened and emphasising these to the social worker s they have to take safeguarding risks seriously. Also make a list beforehand of all the areas that she needs help with.

You could also look to see if there are any Carers groups locally to you, as these are often a wealth of advice or if she has a specific genetic condition see if there is a charity for that with a helpline. Hope this helps. 🙂

[Teddy- in reply to SpeedyH]

Sorry to jump into this one. As I am in the same situation as mickeyallsotts, the situation as a mum. Thank you for all the information speedyH given to me.

[Mickyallsorts in reply to SpeedyH]

Wow, thanks for this, I shall start the ball rolling with the lasting power of attorney.