September is World Alzheimer’s month, with 21st September being globally recognised as the day in which Alzheimer’s organisations raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia. Alzheimer’s Society UK has published that there are around 900,000 people with Dementia in the UK alone. As yet, there is no cure for Dementia, which is the broad term used to describe a number of conditions affecting the brain, including Alzheimer’s. With this information in mind, the majority of those who suffer from Dementia will likely require assistance with making decisions regarding their ongoing care, welfare and finances at some point down the line.
A key focus of this year’s World Alzheimer’s month is looking at post diagnosis support. At Thorntons, we can assist in documenting who you wish to have the authority to make decisions in regards to your welfare and finances if the need arises by way of a Power of Attorney and a Living Will. The following provides a brief summary of Powers of Attorney and Living Wills and highlights some of the reasons why you may wish to consider having these documents put in place, particularly when an early diagnosis of Dementia has been made.
Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney is a legal document which grants someone (known as the ‘attorney’) the authority to act on behalf of another with regards to welfare and/or financial matters. A Power of Attorney can only be granted by someone who is capable of making their own decisions and importantly, has the ability to retain information to be able to make those decisions.
A Power of Attorney can cover financial aspects and/or your welfare. Financial powers may include the attorney being granted the right to access your bank accounts or make decisions regarding any property you own. As soon as a Power of Attorney is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, the financial powers can be exercised by the attorney. Although an adult may still have capacity, it may be that their physical health has deteriorated to the extent that they cannot easily leave their home to go to the bank to pay in/take out cash. In such circumstances, having a financial Power of Attorney in place is particularly useful.
The Welfare powers generally deal with decisions regarding your ongoing care, particularly if you require additional support at home or residential care. Unlike the Financial powers, the Welfare powers can only be exercised by an attorney when one or more medical professionals deem the individual as no longer having ‘capacity’ to make those decisions themselves.
Where a diagnosis of Dementia has been made, if the doctor determines that the individual still currently has capacity, this would be the time to meet with a solicitor with a view to having a Power of Attorney put in place, if the individual had not already done so. At the time a Power of Attorney is put in place, the person granting the Power of Attorney should still be capable of managing their affairs and therefore may wish to retain control of dealing with their finances. The attorney may not be required to exercise their powers until some future time or event or indeed perhaps not at all. It is useful to look at Powers of Attorney like an extra piece of insurance, it may never need to be called upon but there is some peace of mind in knowing that it is there if required.
Living Will
As noted above, there is currently no cure for Dementia and it is therefore likely that the state of health of those with Dementia will gradually deteriorate and the individual may no longer be in a position to communicate the medical treatment they wish to receive. There may be treatment that is against any religious beliefs or simply a decision that you would not have made if you had been in a position to make it yourself. This is where having a Living Will may be of interest. A Living Will (also known as an Advance Directive) is a document which details an adults wishes of treatment they would not want to receive, in the event they cannot express their views. Such instances may be where they are being kept alive by artificial means. Where quality of life is minimal, it may be the case that an individual does not wish for their life to be sustained by such measures. It is important to note that a Living Will will only deal with the extent of medical treatment you wish to receive when you are no longer able to express your wishes. A Power of Attorney would still be required to cover other instances where you could no longer act on your own behalf, such as decisions regarding ongoing personal care and support.
Should you wish to put a Power of Attorney or an Advance Directive/Living Will in place, please contact Rachel Anderson on 03330 430150 or a member of our Private Client team. Although it is possible to do one without the other, these documents often go hand in hand and clients often look to put these both in place at the same time or at the time when they are also putting Wills in place or reviewing any existing Wills.
