Thanks again, Huckster.

Yes, I've had reassurance from someone else who has been in this position that my Dad will still be able to cash his own cheques, which is my main concern as I live so far away.

As I write this I am also looking at the Public Guardian Office website and will download the forms in order to register the EPA.

sophialeader:

With my great aunt, the document for my sister to use the EPA, had to be signed by my aunt. If the person the EPA is for, is capable of understanding and making a decision they have to sign it .

So my advice is to try to arrange with your father and solicitor for your father to agree to apply the EPA now, rather than wait for him to deteriorate. If it gets to the stage when you father is unable to understand and make a decision, my understanding is that you will then have to go through a more difficult process with doctors reports.

Do not underestimate how quickly people can deteriorate, although from person to person, it probably varies. With my aunt, from the point where she started to get confused, forgetting her keys, losing her cheque book etc, it only took about a year to get to the stage where she needed permanent care. The tipping points came where she had put an electric kettle onto her cooker, melting the bottom and then getting confused/lost in her local high street she had known for more than 30 years.

The bank will not speak to you about your fathers account due to data protection. You will have to wait until you have the EPA put into force and the bank have registered it. My understanding is once they have registered it, you will be issued with a cheque book which be for ' Miss X XXXXX the personal representative of Mr Fred bloggs'. I believe that your father would still be able to obtain the normal banking services himself i.e cash cheques.

Huckster

Thank you both for your replies. Huckster, you have highlighted several problems which my Father is already having, e.g. locking himself out and he has just lost his cheque book! He lives alone in a sheltered accommodation flat, I am his only relative. Social Services have recently started a care package for him, where they visit every morning and check his shopping etc. He is very independent and insists on getting out of his flat every day, and is resisting all mention of a care home, which I don't really think is necessary at this stage. He is waiting for an assessment for signs of dementia but, as is very common, he denies that anything is wrong!

Anyhow, besides his welfare, the current dilemma for me is whether or not to register his EPA. I think I must speak to his bank as he is known there and I am hoping that they will allow him to continue to sign his cheques even if I have registered the EPA. But of course these days it is impossible to speak to his branch on the phone, they seem to be located somewhere entirely different (if you get my meaning!). In fact it may be easier to visit them in person with my Father when I am next in the UK.

Thanks again for your help.

sophialeader:

Agree with the issue conmankiller has highlighted.

We had the same problem with a great aunt. In her early 90's she started to have difficulties looking after herself. All her relatives started to visit her more often, but as we all lived atleast 100 miles away from her, we had to involve the local authority care team for more help. They employed a local care provider to visit for an hour every other day, but a charge was made for this service, which I think was £20 per visit. They made sure she was ok, checked her house making sure it was clean, safe and tidy. And did some basic food shopping and removed old items from her fridge.

Her local bank understood her situation and were very good at looking after her, making sure she had access to her money. Even if she could not find her cheque book, they would still help her, but they had known her for 30 or more years. The branch was in a small town, where some of the staff had worked there for years. I doubt many banks would be this helpful.

Eventually she started to get into problems, leaving the house without her keys and had to be helped by her neighbours. Luckily we knew all her neighbours and one of them held an emergency key. Anyway on one day, she became totally confused in her local high street and had to be helped by her local police. They contacted the local authority care team and she was taken into a temporary care home. They then conducted a review of her needs and she was placed into a suitable care home for her needs.

This gives you an idea of what might be ahead. So my advice is to have a frank face-to-face conversation with your father. The conversation will be about how you can make sure he is looked after in the years ahead and therefore it would be sensible to understand his wishes. He could be hurt by this and become quite angry, as my aunt was to start off with, when this was raised. They often will not admit to any illness or confusion and also independence can be preciously guarded. Then leave it for a day or two for him to calm down if you need to. If you can get him to agree for both of you to have a meeting with his solicitor, so your father can agree with you to have power of attorney to help him. For my aunt the solicitor issued a document for my aunt to sign, so my sister could be the executor of the power of attorney. She then had to register this with the banks my aunt had accounts with. It took a few months for the POA to be applied by the banks and my sister was sent cheque books. The POA then had to be registered offiically with the public guardians office, which took months and my sister had to provide regular accounts.

You should also speak to your father about having an assessment arranged by his GP. They can arrange tests for early signs of dementia and other ailments. After the assessment, the local authority may be worth contacting, to see what services they can provide.

Another good source of information is age concern. http://www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/how_we_help.asp

Hope this helps.

Huckster

You have a legal obligation to register the EPA with the Office of the Public Guardian as soon as you believe your Father has started to lose the mental capacity to make these decisions for himself, it unfortunately sounds like that dreaded time has now arrived. !

http://www.publicguardian.gov.uk/decisions/being-attorney-epa.htm

Ideally an attorney should reside within a reasonable travelling distance from the donor in case they are needed to administer their affairs, such as the problem you face. Although you are not allowed to transfer this power over to another person, would there be chance of any other arrangement say with a carer or other trusted person or family member...who could draw the cash, or you could alternatively pay it direct to them for your Dad's benefit.... once you have fully registered your power with the OPG. and made the necessary arrangements with the bank.?

Is your Father living with someone else at present, or yet in / about to go into care.?

I am the attorney named on my elderly Father's EPA. It is not yet registered although I am thinking that it needs to be soon as he is showing signs of confusion. But what worries me is that I live in Greece and my Father is in UK. I have already set up direct debits for all his bills, so the only thing he has to do is physically go into the bank every week or so and cash a cheque for his spending money. This is the only way for him to withdraw cash - he does not have a cashcard as I know he would lose it and certainly forget the pin number.

But if I register the EPA does that mean that only I can sign his cheques? This would obviously not be practical as I can't get the cash to him from Greece! In fact the only practical change I want to make is for the bank to send his statements directly to me so that I can check them. My Father is not capable of posting them on to me anymore.

As he is showing signs of confusion, I believe I am legally obliged to register the EPA, but I don't want to do that if it means that he has no way of withdrawing cash for himself (while he still can)!

Any advice welcome please, I can't find any relevant info on the bank's website at all.