‘Warring families are to be assigned mediators to stop to stop them fighting over power of attorney for loved ones. A pilot scheme being run by the Office of the Public Guardian will fund professional help for families embroiled in disputes over issues such as inheritances or control of finances.’
Daily Telegraph, 3rd April 2018
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘An associate in a law firm’s Court of Protection team has been convicted of the wilful neglect of her own elderly mother, who died in squalor despite the solicitor having power of attorney to act on her behalf.’
Legal Futures, 3rd April 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Care home managers reported almost 13,000 concerns that vulnerable residents were experiencing financial abuse in the past four years, new figures show.’
Daily Telegraph, 17th February 2018
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘There shouldn’t be anything suspicious about a young man accompanying his aunt to see her solicitor. Frail or elderly people often seek the assistance of family members when making important decisions. Most of the time, there is indeed no concern, just a caring relative looking after a loved one. But there is a growing sense among private client practitioners that financial elderly abuse is on the rise, and an overly protective nephew could be a sign that the situation is perhaps not as straightforward as it seems.’
Family Law, 14th December 2017
Source: www.familylaw.co.uk
‘Power of attorney should be granted online, City watchdogs have suggested, as lawyers warn the move would put the elderly at risk of fraud.’
Daily Telegraph, 21st September 2017
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘A north-west firm is considering appealing a Court of Protection ruling in which it was removed as a financial deputy in a case concerning deprivation of liberty and care arrangements.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 19th August 2016
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘A retired company director has paid £4,500 in costs after being reprimanded by a judge for vandalising his own mother’s gravestone with a hammer.’
Daily Telegraph, 26th June 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘The woman, who is in her late 70s, underwent a frontal leucotomy in 1962 to cut nerve fibres in the brain.’
Daily Telegraph, 13th January 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘This Court of Protection case has, unusually, made the papers, and when you read the details you won’t be surprised. What the judge described as a “callous and calculating” son charged his widowed mother, who suffered from dementia, more than £117 000 for “out of pocket expenses” visiting her in her nursing home. He had been in charge of her expenses since 2004 when Sheila (the mother) had been admitted to hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983. But alarm bells only went off after her unpaid nursing bills reached nearly £30 000. The Public Guardian launched an enquiry that led to this hearing of an application for the court to revoke the son’s (Martin’s) Enduring Power of Attorney (‘EPA’) and to direct him to cancel its registration. The Public Guardian also applied to freeze Sheila’s bank account.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 28th October 2015
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘The village solicitor raided the accounts of 13 clients aged between 67 and 100 and spent the money on ‘pens, pottery, pornography and prostitutes’.’
Daily Telegraph, 1st June 2015
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘When a person goes missing, there is currently no legal mechanism for another person to manage his or her affairs during his or her absence. This can lead to the dissipation of the missing person’s assets (for example, through uncancellable Direct Debits) and the deterioration or loss of assets (for example, through lack of maintenance or failure to meet financial obligations, such as mortgage payments).’
Ministry of Justice, 27th August 2014
Source: www.consult.justice.gov.uk
‘Campaign by Claudia Lawrence’s father Peter leads to proposals to give relatives of missing loved ones power over their financial affairs.’
Daily Telegraph, 27th August 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘Lasting powers of attorney will be easier and simpler for people to make, Justice Minister Simon Hughes announces.’
Ministry of Justice, 21st August 2014
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
‘Rules granting other people control over your money when you are elderly or infirm are open to abuse. We highlight one sobering case.’
Daily Telegraph, 12th July 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘A handyman who took hundreds of thousands of pounds from a wealthy widow with dementia after gaining power of attorney must not be named, a court rules.’
Daily Telegraph, 17th March 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘A will writer who stole more than £280,000 from clients over nearly three years has been found guilty of fraud.’
BBC News, 4th February 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Our consultation paper ‘Transforming the Services of the Office of the Public Guardian’, published on 27 July 2012, invited comments on a range of issues related to the Office of the Public Guardian’s (OPG) aspiration to deliver its services digitally by default. In our response, published in January 2013, we set out the changes that we would complete by April 2013. This included reducing the statutory waiting period for registering a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) form from six weeks to four weeks and amending the regulations to allow court appointed deputies to change bond provider without the need to apply to the Court of Protection. However, other changes required further policy development or were dependant on the OPG replacement IT system being in place in 2014.”
Ministry of Justice, 15th October 2013
Source: www.consult.justice.gov.uk
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