What is a Deputy?

In the summer of 2011 Professional Deputies was approached by a local authority who had received a referral for a gentleman who was suffering from advanced dementia and as a result had been targeted by fraudsters in the past. Mr P had no family or friends who could assist him with handling his financial affairs, and as a result of his advanced dementia it had been determined that he no longer had the capacity to manage his own financial affairs.

Mr P had dual citizenship – American and British. After been born in America and living most of his adult life there, he immigrated to Britain fifteen years ago. As a result Mr P’s financial affairs were quite extensive and complicated. His income and assets covered a broad spectrum ranging from occupational pensions, private pensions, property, state benefits, investments, stocks, trusts and so on. To compound matters some of his income and assets were derived and located both in America and Britain.

Thus the local authority reviewed the case and came to the conclusion that they did not have either the time or expertise to provide the service that Mr P would require. Hence Professional Deputies were approached, who would have the time and expertise to devote to the case. Professional Deputies consulted closely with Mr P’s social worker from the local authority to learn a bit more about him – including the state of his financial affairs, his overall mental & physical health, and lastly the financial abuse concerns that had been raised.

After reviewing a mountain of paperwork related to Mr P’s financial affairs, the starting point was to apply for deputyship. Deputyship would allow Professional Deputies to manage all of Mr P’s financial affairs, thus both enabling and protecting him when it came to all things financial. The starting point was to obtain an Assessment of Capacity from his doctor. Once this was obtained, and Professional Deputies had a clearer picture of Mr P’s financial affairs, they sent off the application to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG).

Once deputyship had been granted to Professional Deputies, Mr P’s financial affairs were protected from fraudsters who had in the past targeted him through various ways – including door stepping, cold calling, written requests for funds, befriending down the local pub and other ways.

Safeguarding Adults Policy criteria is met for the local authority, and Mr P benefits from the following:
-Income is maximized.
-Enables him to spend his money the way he desires.
-No further debt problems.
-The chance to make the most of opportunities available to him.

www.deputyship.co.uk