Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

[ilikecrisps]

Hi everybody!

I'd love a bit of reassurance from anyone who knows about Powers of Attorney/OPG stuff as my husband is having a nightmare. It's complicated, so I'll try to be as brief as possible.

I posted on this site a while ago (http://tinyurl.com/zjeqb4n) asking for advice as my father-in-law has dementia and his solicitor refused to send my husband the original EPA. My husband needed the EPA to register with the OPG so that FIL's flat could be sold to discharge his debts and substantial care home fees. My husband is jointly and severally Attorney with FIL's brother. The brother has cancer and didn't want to get involved and was happy for my husband to deal with FIL's affairs solely. My husband has no siblings.

After much chasing, my husband finally got a copy of the EPA from FIL's solicitors but not all pages had been certified. The solicitor's refusal to send the original document and then his failure to send a fully certified copy caused us to believe that the solicitor was being obstructive. Additionally, when my husband phoned him, the solicitor refused to speak to my husband.

Once my husband had finally received a fully certified copy of the EPA, he registered it with the OPG, thus enabling him to instruct a different solicitor to deal with the sale of FIL's flat. At this point, the flat had already been on the market for many months (it took a long time to sell because it was in such a terrible state due to FIL's dementia). The flat eventually had a buyer and the sale has just completed.

However, when my husband attempted to discharge the care home costs out of the proceeds of sale, the payment was blocked. On investigation of this, my husband was horrified to be told that transactions regarding FIL's bank account have been blocked by FIL's solicitors and that both the estate agent that sold the flat and the selling solicitor have received letters from FIL's solicitors stating that the flat sale was fraudulent because the EPA had been revoked.

My husband has not received any notice of revocation at any point since the EPA was made in 2007, nor had he had any correspondence from FIL's solicitors regarding the EPA. My husband has just spoken to the OPG, who also have not received any notification or objections from FIL's solicitors. My husband phoned FIL's solicitor, who was very cagey and said he would send my husband a report. We've phoned FIL's brother to find out if he has received any notification about the EPA, but so far we haven't been able to get hold of him.

Surely FIL's solicitors would have been aware of my husband's intention to register the EPA when he made contact with them earlier this year requesting the document and they ought to have informed him about the supposed revocation then? I would have thought they should have also notified the OPG of the situation then. The other concern is that FIL has lacked capacity to make informed decisions for some time now - could FIL's solicitor have taken instructions from him to revoke the EPA (and, quite possibly, change his Will) in his confused state?

The news of the supposed revocation has come as a massive shock and worry. We can't work out why FIL would revoke the EPA and why FIL's solicitors have dealt with it in this way.

What on earth do we do now?!

Thanks.

Crisps

[enaid]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

Hi, just had a quick look at you last thread on this.
The Enduring Power of Attorney is registered and the donor lacks capacity

In such circumstances, an application will need to be made to the Court of Protection asking the Court to direct the Public Guardian to cancel the registration of the Enduring Power of Attorney and potentially direct that a deputy be appointed to manage the donor’s finances going forward. The Court of Protection can cancel an Enduring Power of Attorney on several grounds including on being satisfied that, having regard to all the circumstances, the attorney is unsuitable to be the donor’s attorney.

I would ring COURT of Protection and ask firstly have they been notified as it is they who give permission

[ilikecrisps]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

Thanks, Enaid. Will try the Court of Protection now.
Crisps

[ilikecrisps]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

Hi again. We've contacted the Court of Protection and they say they've had no contact at all about FIL.

[enaid]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

Well the only way it can be cancelled before it was registered (and I really can't get my head around how that could happen as it is registered) a deed of revocation has to be witnessed and signed by your FIL. The unregistered? EPA must be kept by you FIL along with the EPA and attorney,s banks etc should be informed.
It costs £400 to revke a registered EPA and can only be done by the COP

[enaid]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

Note: You must take reasonable steps to inform every attorneyaffected by this revocation that you are bringing his/herappointment to an end. If you fail to do this, your attorney canlegally continue to make decisions on your behalf.

[ilikecrisps]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

Thanks, Enaid. I really can't get my head around it either! FIL's solicitors don't appear to have contacted anybody.... I'm desperate to see what their "report" is going to say as I really can't make much sense of it all.

Crisps

[enaid]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

Along with the report I would ask for a copy of the deed of revocation.

[ilikecrisps]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

Note: You must take reasonable steps to inform every attorneyaffected by this revocation that you are bringing his/herappointment to an end. If you fail to do this, your attorney canlegally continue to make decisions on your behalf.

We've now spoken to FIL's brother. He said he received a letter about six months ago by ordinary 2nd class post saying something about the EPA being revoked but he has never mentioned it in any subsequent conversations with my husband.

We have not received any such letter. We moved over 2 years ago, so FIL's solicitor could possibly have sent the letter to my husband at the address on the EPA, but when they sent us a certified copy of the EPA earlier this year they sent it to us at our new address. If they had indeed sent any notice of revocation to us at an old address, surely they would have made the link that we'd moved when they sent us the copy EPA and should have advised us that the EPA had been revoked at that point?

Does it sound like my husband has legally been able to make decisions on FIL's behalf?

Sorry to go on about it, but we're so worried that somehow we've done something wrong! My husband has bent over backwards to make sure he's done everything by the book and it seems unbelievable that all this seems to have suddenly sprung out of nowhere!

Crisps

[enaid]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

Well just my opinion but FIL brother should have mentioned the letter especially as he wasn't partaking in any of the duties of attorney.
If the solicitors wrote to you 6 month ago, same time as FIL brother they wouldn't have had an update on your new address until after that so have taken reasonable steps to contact you.
The solicitor should have a copy of the letter they sent you (if they did) I would ask for it, along with a copy of the Deed of Revocation.
When you have all the info on what's gone on I would ring the OPG, have no idea how this was registered or if the sol is doing wrong in any way.

[ilikecrisps]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

Hello! Well, this case initially sounded incredibly boring but has now become slightly more interesting to read about: a fortnight ago my poor husband was arrested for fraudulently using a (supposedly) revoked Power of Attorney and for selling FIL's flat fraudulently at below the incorrectly assumed market rate.

After being rudely awoken early in the morning by 6 police officers crowding into the bedroom and then whisked off to the nearest custody centre (an hour away) by speeding police, he was detained for a whole day whilst not being offered anything to eat. He returned home at 4.30pm feeling physically ill and, as you can imagine, in a state of extreme agitation.

We couldn't believe some of things the police seized. The warrant specified the removal of evidence relating to the sale of FIL's flat but the police took various cheques from the DWP in my husband's name, his passport and his O-level, A-level and degree certificates, along with other irrelevant paperwork! They also took his work-issued computer and blackberry, which means he'll almost certainly lose his job. However, the police managed to leave behind important paperwork regarding the sale of FIL's flat.

Throughout questioning at the police station, it became apparent that FIL's previous solicitor (the one who has been so difficult and seemingly negligent) alleged that my husband had sold FIL's flat illegally, because the Enduring Power of Attorney in my husband's favour had been revoked (which we were unaware of - see previous posts). The police were also trying to ascertain any links between my husband and the person who eventually purchased the flat. The flat had been on the market for nearly a year as it wasn't selling because it was in such a horrendous state and there was so little interest that the asking price had been reduced after a few months. My husband said it was clear that the questioning officer saw that he was wasting his time as there seemed to be no grounds for the charges at all.

I really can't work out why my husband was arrested (instead of voluntarily brought in for questioning). I also can't work out why the police went to all that trouble if there was clearly no grounds at all for the arrest. Three of the police officers had to travel a long way and stay in a hotel overnight in order to arrive at our home early the next day. A simple call to the care home, the OPG, the selling estate agent or to the other attorney (FIL's brother) would have saved them a lot of bother. In other words, they sought no independent corroboration of the allegations in advance, and spent a great deal of public money on travel and accommodation pursuing a case which would inevitably fail due to lack of evidence. Surely this indicates a lack of due diligence and gives us grounds for a claim of wrongful arrest?

Yesterday (2 weeks after his arrest), my husband was informed that all charges against him had been dropped. This is naturally a relief, but hardly a surprise as it's been glaringly obvious that there was no case in the first place.

We now have to deal with the worrying aftermath: my husband likely losing his job and the stress caused to our young children seeing their dad taken away by a load of burly men. They still hide when the doorbell rings.

I'm sure the neighbours are still gossiping about the morning that 3 police cars pulled up right outside our house as curtains were twitching as my husband was taken away! Joking aside, the last fortnight has been absolutely awful and I feel like I've aged 10 years.

We've now got to somehow get back all our things from the police (who are at the other end of the country), and I can't imagine that'll be a quick process.

My question is: is it feasible to sue FIL's solicitors or get compensation of any kind? They hadn't even bothered to notify the OPG or the Court of Protection about the supposedly revoked EPoA or any new one they had set up.

Not only have they been negligent in their duties, wasted police time, probably lost my husband his job and tarnished his good name but, worryingly, they seem to have approached my FIL at his care home for business. They have taken instruction from a man with severe dementia to revoke the existing EPoA and create a new one, presumably in their favour, so that they could sell his flat, thus profiting from his instruction. I assume they would have expected FIL to pay for their services. Does this constitute a conflict of interest? Is this fraud on their part? FIL clearly has dementia - he can't use a phone and there is a restriction of liberty order on him to make sure he doesn't leave the care home (the DOLS was carried out a year ago), so there's no way he could have approached them to request any legal work to be carried out. From the police, my husband learned that his father even told his solicitor that the other attorney (his brother) is dead, which he is not - surely that would be indication enough of his confusion? At best the solicitors have been unprofessional, unethical and negligent; at worst, their actions appear extremely suspect.

Can we also do anything about my husband's wrongful arrest and have his police record, dna and fingerprints record deleted? Because of the nature of his work, having a police record will ruin his entire career.

Once again, any advice would be much appreciated! It's thanks to your previous advice that we managed to do everything properly in the first place and this will have almost certainly contributed to the relatively hasty speed with which the case was closed.

Crisps

[enaid]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

OMG can't tell you how sick I felt reading this .

I have to go out in a few minutes but I hope someone has replied to you before I get back.

[EXC]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

I'll give [MENTION=71570]R0b[/MENTION] and [MENTION=39710]des8[/MENTION] a shout and ask them to read post #11.

[R0b]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

Hello, I haven't got the time to take a detailed look at the moment but on the face of it, a claim against the solicitors might be a case of malicious falsehood, its a sort of branch off from libel/slander where statements are falsely made deliberate or reckless and causes damage to the individual in some way.

It sounds like the police have been negligent as well in relation to the warrant itself of taking things that are not required but also the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) by failing to offer food and drink at certain intervals. It is often difficult to claim against the police so a claim against them might not be worth it but certainly a complaint could be put in about the way they have handled things.

I'll take a proper look later this evening

[Openlaw15]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney (possibly) revoked & we're in a pickle!

Hi everybody!

I'd love a bit of reassurance from anyone who knows about Powers of Attorney/OPG stuff as my husband is having a nightmare. It's complicated, so I'll try to be as brief as possible.

I posted on this site a while ago (http://tinyurl.com/zjeqb4n) asking for advice as my father-in-law has dementia and his solicitor refused to send my husband the original EPA. My husband needed the EPA to register with the OPG so that FIL's flat could be sold to discharge his debts and substantial care home fees. My husband is jointly and severally Attorney with FIL's brother. The brother has cancer and didn't want to get involved and was happy for my husband to deal with FIL's affairs solely. My husband has no siblings.

After much chasing, my husband finally got a copy of the EPA from FIL's solicitors but not all pages had been certified. The solicitor's refusal to send the original document and then his failure to send a fully certified copy caused us to believe that the solicitor was being obstructive. Additionally, when my husband phoned him, the solicitor refused to speak to my husband.

Once my husband had finally received a fully certified copy of the EPA, he registered it with the OPG, thus enabling him to instruct a different solicitor to deal with the sale of FIL's flat. At this point, the flat had already been on the market for many months (it took a long time to sell because it was in such a terrible state due to FIL's dementia). The flat eventually had a buyer and the sale has just completed.

However, when my husband attempted to discharge the care home costs out of the proceeds of sale, the payment was blocked. On investigation of this, my husband was horrified to be told that transactions regarding FIL's bank account have been blocked by FIL's solicitors and that both the estate agent that sold the flat and the selling solicitor have received letters from FIL's solicitors stating that the flat sale was fraudulent because the EPA had been revoked.

My husband has not received any notice of revocation at any point since the EPA was made in 2007, nor had he had any correspondence from FIL's solicitors regarding the EPA. My husband has just spoken to the OPG, who also have not received any notification or objections from FIL's solicitors. My husband phoned FIL's solicitor, who was very cagey and said he would send my husband a report. We've phoned FIL's brother to find out if he has received any notification about the EPA, but so far we haven't been able to get hold of him.

Surely FIL's solicitors would have been aware of my husband's intention to register the EPA when he made contact with them earlier this year requesting the document and they ought to have informed him about the supposed revocation then? I would have thought they should have also notified the OPG of the situation then. The other concern is that FIL has lacked capacity to make informed decisions for some time now - could FIL's solicitor have taken instructions from him to revoke the EPA (and, quite possibly, change his Will) in his confused state?

The news of the supposed revocation has come as a massive shock and worry. We can't work out why FIL would revoke the EPA and why FIL's solicitors have dealt with it in this way.

What on earth do we do now?!

Thanks.

Crisps

Ilikecrisps, you posted this alleged fraud on this thread too: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...993#post673993

I gave this response:

"It's possible to sue (in tort, ie right the wrong done) for a malicious prosecution against the solicitors. It just depends on whether it was malicious prosecution (taking action against your husband in the criminal proceedings sense), or whether the action was proportionate (fair). It seems your case was not proportionate to justify a prosecution, which could be therefore 'malicious.' You could also ask for the Legal Ombudsman to look at the case for malicious prosecution, or some form of damages, for the invasion of privacy, the effect it had on your lives etc. You could also complain about the police action as they're only supposed to arrest a person if there is evidence of the alleged crime committed."