Hello,
I'm in a tricky position and not really sure where to turn.
About 18 months ago my Mother moved from her home in Scotland to live with us in York. She moved in with us as she was having falls and was starting to become confused and forgetful - she previously lived on her own.
Around a year ago she had a fall, was taken in to hospital where she had another fall on the ward suffering bleeding to brain. She has recovered to a degree but now has no short term memory whatsoever and has lost the movement of her arms and legs. She is now resident in a care home.
Mum has no savings, no assets other than the house she lived in which is fairly dilapidated and has a very low income. The house has been valued at ~£60K.
Care home fees are being paid for by the Council, who now have a charge on her house in Scotland which they will recover these fees from when the house is sold.
I approached my Mums solicitor in Scotland for advice, who took several months to evaluate things, then told us to pursue a Power of Attorney in the English courts and sent us a fairly sizeable bill.
I then engaged a solicitor in England who thought this was more a Scottish issue and passed us to a partner firm of theirs in Scotland. They tried to progress things through a Welfare & Financial Guardianship in the Scottish Courts (for which Legal Aid is available), but has now advised, following a medical report, that due to Mum having a level of understanding when she moved to England that the Welfare element would no longer be in the jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts. Without the Welfare element Legal Aid would not be available and there would a cost of £5K+ to seek guardianship - which neither I nor my mother has.
There are no other close family members who can contribute.
I sought guidance from the Registers of Scotland around asking whether an English PoA would have effect in Scotland to allow the sale of the house - and I must confess I don't really understand their response. I've copied it below.
So things have ground to a halt and I'm not sure what to do. The condition of the house will be getting worse and I do worry every time I hear of storms and strong winds.
I think the options are:
1) Seek Financial Guardianship in Scotland to sell the house. The process will take 6 months + and cost £5K. (I don't have £5K so can't see how this can be an option).
2) Seek PoA in England. I think I can do this without a solicitor to keep the costs down, but don't really understand if this would be sufficient to allow the sale of the house.
3) Do nothing. But if I do this, when the council decide that the equity on my Mums house has been used up they will either move Mum to a cheaper care home or seek that I make the contribution to keep her where she is.
The main thing is that Mum is very content and settled in the care home she is in. It is nearby, allowing me to visit every couple of days. I want to make sure Mum can continue to stay in this home for as long as possible.
I've been trying to deal with this on my own for almost a year now and feel I'm really no further forwards - and it's so stressful: It's my Mum - I need to do EVERYTHING I can to make sure she's OK. I think I am, generally, very capable at dealing with things, but this is getting me really down and I just don't know where to turn. Any advice or assistance would be very gratefully received.
Thanks,
WD.
I'm in a tricky position and not really sure where to turn.
About 18 months ago my Mother moved from her home in Scotland to live with us in York. She moved in with us as she was having falls and was starting to become confused and forgetful - she previously lived on her own.
Around a year ago she had a fall, was taken in to hospital where she had another fall on the ward suffering bleeding to brain. She has recovered to a degree but now has no short term memory whatsoever and has lost the movement of her arms and legs. She is now resident in a care home.
Mum has no savings, no assets other than the house she lived in which is fairly dilapidated and has a very low income. The house has been valued at ~£60K.
Care home fees are being paid for by the Council, who now have a charge on her house in Scotland which they will recover these fees from when the house is sold.
I approached my Mums solicitor in Scotland for advice, who took several months to evaluate things, then told us to pursue a Power of Attorney in the English courts and sent us a fairly sizeable bill.
I then engaged a solicitor in England who thought this was more a Scottish issue and passed us to a partner firm of theirs in Scotland. They tried to progress things through a Welfare & Financial Guardianship in the Scottish Courts (for which Legal Aid is available), but has now advised, following a medical report, that due to Mum having a level of understanding when she moved to England that the Welfare element would no longer be in the jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts. Without the Welfare element Legal Aid would not be available and there would a cost of £5K+ to seek guardianship - which neither I nor my mother has.
There are no other close family members who can contribute.
I sought guidance from the Registers of Scotland around asking whether an English PoA would have effect in Scotland to allow the sale of the house - and I must confess I don't really understand their response. I've copied it below.
The Keeper takes a largely administrative role in relation to land registration in Scotland, this role is based on statutory authority and that authority does not allow her to provide legal advice to either solicitors or members of the public.
In general terms I can confirm that the Keeper is unlikely to extend her indemnity to any title granted in a process not approved by the Scottish Courts or the Public Guardians Office here in Scotland, unless she can be shown clear authority for action by the English courts: such authority is likely to include express consideration by the English court of the jurisdiction of any Deputy appointed in their disposal of a particular case.
I strongly suggest you obtain the services of a suitably qualified solicitor in this matter or in the first instance you may want to approach the Public Guardians Office here in Scotland for guidance.
In general terms I can confirm that the Keeper is unlikely to extend her indemnity to any title granted in a process not approved by the Scottish Courts or the Public Guardians Office here in Scotland, unless she can be shown clear authority for action by the English courts: such authority is likely to include express consideration by the English court of the jurisdiction of any Deputy appointed in their disposal of a particular case.
I strongly suggest you obtain the services of a suitably qualified solicitor in this matter or in the first instance you may want to approach the Public Guardians Office here in Scotland for guidance.
I think the options are:
1) Seek Financial Guardianship in Scotland to sell the house. The process will take 6 months + and cost £5K. (I don't have £5K so can't see how this can be an option).
2) Seek PoA in England. I think I can do this without a solicitor to keep the costs down, but don't really understand if this would be sufficient to allow the sale of the house.
3) Do nothing. But if I do this, when the council decide that the equity on my Mums house has been used up they will either move Mum to a cheaper care home or seek that I make the contribution to keep her where she is.
The main thing is that Mum is very content and settled in the care home she is in. It is nearby, allowing me to visit every couple of days. I want to make sure Mum can continue to stay in this home for as long as possible.
I've been trying to deal with this on my own for almost a year now and feel I'm really no further forwards - and it's so stressful: It's my Mum - I need to do EVERYTHING I can to make sure she's OK. I think I am, generally, very capable at dealing with things, but this is getting me really down and I just don't know where to turn. Any advice or assistance would be very gratefully received.
Thanks,
WD.
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