Who makes decisions for someone unable to make his own?

[Bobbyboy]

MY wife's brother is ill with a form of Parkinson's, he is unable to write and his speaking is virtually inaudible, who is able to make the decisions regarding his care and finances?
My wife is the younger of two sisters.
Thanks for any help.

[Peridot]

Hi BobbyBoy,
There are a couple of issues here. The main one being that the fact he is unable to write and his speech is very quiet doesn't mean he can't make his own decisions. If he has mental capacity he should be allowed to do so. It may mean that you need to find other ways of communicating for example using closed questions that can be answered with a nod or blink, raise of the hand as examples.

Even if he appointed an attorney, the attorney would still be expected to try to ensure he is able to make his own decisions as far as possible until such time that he no longer has capacity to do so. This site may help with regard to the creation of a Lasting Power of Attorney and the different types available: https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

If he has actually lost mental capacity

to make his own decisions,

rather than just struggling to communicate in the usual ways, then it may be too late for him to make arrangements for an attorney to be appointed. If this is the case it would be necessary for someone to apply to be appointed as a Deputy by the Court of Protection. This can be a relative or a professional. More information on Court of Protection can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/courts-tribunals/court-of-protection

I would suggest that even if your brother in law still has capacity to make his own decisions it would be sensible to get an LPA set up now rather than waiting until he loses capacity to make those decisions as a Court of Protection application is a lot more expensive than preparing an LPA.

[2222]

Strongly agree. I shall be having a couple of operations, and I am finally getting a POA finalised whilst able to do so.

[Bobbyboy]

Thanks so much for the clear information, will be very helpful, we will now try and have a chat with brother-in-law and see if he will get something arranged, I see from the web site that he can arrange these things online which will be helpful.
Much appreciated.