A practical way that sufferers who are diagnosed with dementia can maintain control of the situation is to prepare a Power of Attorney (PoA). This will allow them to ensure that their affairs will be dealt with as they would wish in the future.
A PoA is a legal document appointing a person or people (Attorney/Attorneys) to act on your behalf for specific purposes. There are different types of PoA but the most common is the Continuing and Welfare Power of Attorney. This allows your Attorney(s) to act in relation to both your financial affairs and personal welfare and remains in force in the event that you subsequently become incapable of managing your own affairs.
Dementia is not the only reason for putting a Power of Attorney in place but it is certainly a key factor for a number of people. We would encourage people of any age to consider appointing an Attorney to act on their behalf as it is a way to plan for the future, whatever it may hold.
If a PoA is not in place then the alternative is to have someone appointed as a Guardian. The Guardianship application consists of a long, expensive and complex Court procedure which is likely to be avoided by putting a PoA in place while a person is able to do so.
For more information on Dementia Awareness Week see http://daw.dementiascotland.org/ and for more details on putting a Power of Attorney in place, please contact a member of our Private Client team who would be happy to discuss this with you.
