Alan and Margaret had been married for 40 years. They had wills, made when the children were small. They'd talked about powers of attorney, "but it never felt urgent."
At 71, Alan had a major stroke. He survived, but couldn't understand or communicate decisions about money.
"I assumed I could just deal with it"
Their joint account carried on, but Alan's pension, his ISAs and the savings account the bills came from were in his sole name. When Margaret explained what had happened, the bank restricted access. Without a lasting power of attorney, nobody had authority to act for Alan, not even his wife.
Alan needed nursing care. To pay for it, Margaret needed access to his money, and possibly to sell their second property, a flat in Alan's name.
The Court of Protection
Their son applied to become Alan's deputy. There were forms, a capacity assessment, a court fee and a long wait. In the meantime, Margaret paid what she could from her own money. Once appointed, he had to take out a security bond, file annual reports and pay supervision fees every year.
"If we'd spent an afternoon doing LPAs ten years ago, none of it would have happened," Margaret says.
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