Power of attorney for dementia in Hemel Hempstead usually needs to be two documents, not one. A health and welfare lasting power of attorney covers care, treatment and where someone lives. A property and financial affairs LPA covers the money that pays for it.
Families arranging power of attorney for dementia in Hemel Hempstead tend to sort one and assume it does everything. The gap only shows up later, at the moment somebody needs to make a decision.
This piece is about which document covers which decision. If the question on your mind is whether there is still time to make one at all, that is a different and more urgent question, and we have written about how the window closes while capacity is still there.
Which power of attorney covers which decision?
The split is cleaner than the language suggests.
A health and welfare LPA covers daily routine, and GOV.UK lists washing, dressing and eating by name. It also covers medical care, moving into a care home, and life sustaining treatment.
A property and financial affairs LPA covers the bank or building society account, paying bills, collecting a pension or benefits, and selling the home.
Each is a separate document with its own registration. Each costs £92, so both together are £184.
The decisions that arrive first when dementia care starts
In our experience the early decisions are rarely the dramatic ones.
They are whether to accept a care assessment, whether carers can hold a key safe code, how many visits a week to start with, and whether it is time to stop driving. They are also whether to change the GP appointment, and who talks to the pharmacy.
Almost all of those sit on the health and welfare side. Almost all of the money to act on them sits on the other side.
Why a financial LPA on its own leaves a gap
A property and financial affairs LPA is the one families usually arrange first, often because a bank asked for it.
It does a great deal. GOV.UK is explicit that a financial attorney can use the donor's money to look after their home and buy what they need day to day.
What it cannot do is consent to care or treatment. GOV.UK asks a financial attorney to discuss decisions affecting living arrangements, medical care or daily routine with the health and welfare attorney, which assumes one exists.
There is a neat illustration in the guidance itself. A health and welfare attorney may need to spend money on things that improve quality of life, including paying for extra support so the person can go out more, but has to ask whoever controls the funds.
When an attorney can actually start acting
This is the part that surprises people, and it is different for each document.
A health and welfare attorney can only act once the person is unable to make the decision themselves. Until then the decision remains theirs, even if the family would choose differently.
A property and financial affairs attorney can act as soon as registration completes, but only if the document says so and the person gives permission. Otherwise it too waits for capacity to go.
Registration takes 8 to 10 weeks where there are no mistakes, and that includes a statutory four week waiting period. Neither document does anything at all until you register it.
Capacity is not all or nothing
Dementia does not switch capacity off on a particular Tuesday.
GOV.UK describes capacity as decision specific and time specific, and says plainly that it can come and go, naming dementia as an example. Someone may be able to decide what to wear and not able to decide about a change of address.
One line in the guidance is worth holding on to. You cannot decide that someone lacks capacity simply because you think they have made a bad or strange decision.
What an attorney cannot decide
The authority has real limits, and knowing them prevents difficult conversations later.
A health and welfare attorney must check the LPA for instructions about refusing or consenting to treatment. They cannot always decide about medical treatment, for example where the person has made a living will, or where they are detained under the Mental Health Act.
They also carry an obligation that is easy to miss. When they start making decisions they must tell the people involved in the person's care, including family and friends, the GP and healthcare staff, and care workers and social care staff.
If there is no power of attorney and capacity has gone
Then the route is the Court of Protection, and it is slower and dearer.
The application fee is £432, with a further £266 if the court decides a hearing is needed, a £100 assessment fee for a new deputy, and annual supervision of £320 or £35 depending on the case. The court requires a capacity assessment on form COP3, and you must notify at least three connected people.
There is a harder point underneath the fees. The court will usually only appoint a personal welfare deputy where genuine doubt hangs over who should make the decisions, such as a family that disagrees about care.
So deputyship often does not fill the health and welfare gap at all. We have set out what applying for deputyship actually involves for families already in that position.
Arranging power of attorney for dementia in Hemel Hempstead
The paperwork is national, but the people who help with it are local. The memory service for this side of the county is EMDASS, the Early Memory Diagnosis and Support Service, run by Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust. The north west team is based at The Marlowes Health and Wellbeing Centre, 39 to 41 Marlowes, and referrals go through the GP.
EMDASS provides post diagnostic support for a period of 38 weeks. That window is the natural time to sort the paperwork out, because there is somebody to ask.
Two other Dacorum points are worth knowing. Age UK Hertfordshire runs a free information and advice line on 0300 345 3446, and Memory Support Hertfordshire is on 0300 131 3946.
The one families most often miss is the council tax severe mental impairment disregard. Dacorum Borough Council lists dementia and Alzheimer's among the qualifying conditions, and it needs a doctor's certificate plus a qualifying benefit, of which Attendance Allowance is the most common. It is a full exemption if the person lives alone, and a 25 per cent discount in many households where they do not.
Common Questions About Power of Attorney for Dementia in Hemel Hempstead
Which power of attorney do you need for dementia?
Most families need both. A health and welfare LPA covers care, treatment and where someone lives. A property and financial affairs LPA covers money, bills and the house. Each is registered separately and each costs £92.
Can an attorney arrange home care in Hemel Hempstead?
Yes, within the scope of the LPA they hold. A health and welfare attorney can decide about care and daily routine once the person lacks capacity to decide it themselves. Paying for that care is a decision for whoever holds the property and financial affairs LPA, so the two attorneys need to talk.
What happens if there is no power of attorney and dementia has advanced?
Someone has to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed deputy. The application fee is £432, with a further £266 if the court decides a hearing is needed. The court will usually only appoint a personal welfare deputy where there is real doubt about how decisions will be made, so the care and treatment gap is often not filled at all.
If the documents are already in place, the useful next step is knowing how to use a lasting power of attorney well once care begins, and our guide to lasting power of attorney and care covers the ground in more detail.
Our Hemel Hempstead team is on 01442 954 137 or at [email protected] if you would like to talk through dementia care at home in Hemel Hempstead. We are CQC registered, and we are not able to give legal advice, so an LPA itself is a matter for the Office of the Public Guardian or a solicitor.
Arranging Care Is Simple
Starting care can feel like a big step. We keep it calm and straightforward, and we are here to guide you from your very first call.
1. Talk to us
Get in touch by phone or request a callback. We will listen, answer your questions and help you understand the options, so you can decide what feels right in your own time.
2. A home visit and initial consultation
We arrange a visit to understand your routines, your home and what matters most to you. Together we agree an initial consultation and shape the support that feels right.
3. Your care begins
A small, familiar team starts your care, arriving at the agreed times and staying involved as your needs change. We remain your trusted adviser throughout.
Whenever you are ready, we are here to help.