Elderly abused through power of attorney, warns judge
THE RISE in power of attorney means that in many cases ageing parents are being taken advantage of by their offspring, a retired senior judge has said.
Denzil Lush, a former Court of Protection judge, said he would not take out one of the agreements himself because of the increasing risk of abuse.
Speaking to the BBC’S Today programme, Mr Lush said: “There tends to be a lack of transparency and accountability in attorneyship, which can have a devastating impact on family relationships, particularly between siblings.”
In cases he had dealt with, he said “almost 90 per cent of abusers were family members, of whom about 68 per cent were either a son or a daughter who had created the power of attorney”.
In an article in 1998 he suggested that around one in eight cases were being abused. He said yesterday: “I’ve seen the pathology… I don’t recall many cases where things have gone satisfactorily and to everybody’s credit, so I’m approaching it from that point of view.
“I would prefer a deputyship because there is accountability, there’s supervision, there’s security.”
Power of attorney allows a trusted person to make financial and carerelated decisions on behalf of someone who has lost capacity to do it for them- selves. They must be set up while the person is still of sound mind.
Deputies are appointed by the Court of Protection to have power over someone’s affairs where a power of attorney has not been arranged.
Figures published last year by The
Daily Telegraph showed that record numbers of attorneys and deputies were being removed from their roles because of mismanagement or theft.
A power of attorney arrangement costs £82 to register, while registering a deputy costs £400, plus an initial £100 charge and up to £320 annually in fees. Legal fees might also be added.
In a deputyship arrangement the court oversees the deputy’s financial decisions, which they must file each year. Insurance must also be taken out.
Once a power of attorney arrangement has been set up, the court only gets involved if there is a complaint.
Figures obtained by the Telegraph show that the number of people with registered power of attorney has risen 18 per cent since the first half of 2016 to reach 322,573 in the first half of this year, according to a freedom of information request made by the wealth management company Old Mutual Wealth.
Rachael Griffin, personal finance planning expert at the firm, said that Mr Lush’s comments were “worrying”.
“There are lots of powers of attorney out there, and the majority of them function perfectly well, and there’s no abuse. To say, ‘Don’t do a power of attorney’ is a little extreme,” she said.
Other experts said that a deputyship leaves a person unable to choose who they want to control their affairs.
Ben Tyer, a solicitor at law firm GLP, said: “The appointment process takes around five months and could result in someone managing your money who does not know you or your wishes.
“The lesson is not that powers of attorney are bad but that it is vitally important to choose someone you trust.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We take swift action if any abuse is reported and have a zero tolerance approach to any attorney or deputy who breaks the law.”